Silver Lining
by When the clock strikes twelve
Summary: Lillie Whitehead thinks she is a normal child, but her frequent 'accidents' make others think differently. But then a car crash turns her life around and she is sent to live with her evil great-aunt Dulcia. She goes to Hogwarts where she discovers a whole new world. Love, friendship and adventure ensue. First Fic!
1. Talking Paintings and Icy Water

Silver Lining

Chapter 1: Talking Paintings and Icy Water

Lillie's long and wavy brown hair was tied up into a messy bun as she tentatively dipped her tanned toe into the deep blue water. She withdrew her toe quickly; the water was extremely cold and she did not want to go swimming anyway.

She marched back over to where her mother was sitting rubbing sun-cream into Milo's, her younger brother, back while her father stood beside them, his longish brown hair flapping slightly in the gentle breeze.

"It's really cold," she complained grumpily. She was still annoyed with her parents for making her change school. "I want to go home," she whined.

"Come on Lil," said her father exasperatedly, "we've only just got here. I'll come with you to the water, we can go in together."

Lillie consented but she pouted all the way to the water's edge. She simply stood on the bank while her father steeled himself as he walked up to his knees in the icy water; Lillie could see that he too found the temperature of the water unbearable. "Come on Lil, don't make me splash you," he said grinning.

"Don't!" shrieked Lillie, a small smile beginning to creep onto her face, her green eyes lighting up. Realising what was happening, she immediately straightened her face; she was supposed to be grumpy and she wouldn't stop until her parents gave in.

But her dad ignored her cry and swinging his hands down through the air, he brought them crashing into the water, a huge cloud of icy water came swooping at Lillie like an overgrown blue bat. "Daaaad!" she cried bracing herself for the impact of the water, but it never came.

Opening her eyes she looked down at herself, there was not a single droplet of water anywhere on her body. The stone around her feet was drenched but her feet themselves were completely dry.

She looked at her father; the smile had faded slightly from his face and there was a hint of fear and anxiety in his blue eyes. Lillie knew that look: it was the look her father gave her every time something strange happened around Lillie.

Unfortunately strange things seemed to happen a very often around her, just last week, for instance, Milo had accidentally ripped off the arm of his Teddy. The Teddy in question had been one of Lillie's old ones, Lillie had loved her Teddy when she was younger, and when she had found Milo crying on the floor of his room, she had somehow managed to reattach the arm to the bear.

"Anna! Lillie's father called. Emerging out of the water and Lillie's mother looked up.

"What is it, Bertie?" she called back.

"We have to go," he said, in the tone of voice that was reserved for Lillie's 'accidents'.

Lillie's mother sighed deeply and started packing everything back into the large wicker bag that they had brought with them.

When they had all climbed back into the small car they drove off, Lillie as usual didn't do up her seatbelt..

"Why are we going?" demanded Milo. Milo Whitehead was seven years old and, if possible, even more stubborn than his older sister. His blue eyes and blonde hair was quite different to Lillie's and they showed off their Slavic heritage. To tell the truth, Lillie didn't really look like anyone in the family; her father had blue eyes and his chestnut-brown hair was much lighter than Lillie's and her mother also had blue eyes but her hair was champagne blond.

"Lillie," said her mother simply.

Even at his age Milo knew what she meant and he lapsed into silence fiddling with his seatbelt.

Despite being perpetually annoyed with her mother, Lillie was extremely mature for her age and she did not like it when her mother was angry with her. "Mum, I promise I didn't mean to," she said.

"I know, but we need to-" she started, but exactly what they needed to do remained a mystery to Lillie for, at that moment, there was a screech of tyres from the left, someone screamed, then there was the sound of metal on metal, the glass beside Lillie smashed and then she was thrown to her right. Lillie landed on what felt like stone and before she passed out she smelled burning.

…

Ten minutes later paramedics were on the scene, a passing motorist had seen what had happened and had immediately called the emergency line. Jean-Baptiste was new to the job and the sight of the burned cars and the six bodies, two in one car and four in the other, was a bit too much for him and so he walked past the blackened skeletons of the cars.

Then he saw it, just beyond the crash, a small limp form lying on the ground. He ran towards it, it was a young girl; her small body must have been propelled through the window. When he reached her he placed two fingers on her neck. He waited, he was about to give up when he felt a pulse, a weak one but a pulse nevertheless.

"Ici!" he cried to the other paramedics. "Elle est toujours vivante!" Two more paramedics came rushing over holding a stretcher, Jean-Baptiste helped them lift her onto the stretcher and then she was carried to the ambulance.

…

Lillie's eyes cracked open, and then immediately closed again. She tried again but the brightness hurt her head and so she kept her eyes tight shut. She heard movement and voices she couldn't recognise or understand; she angled her head towards the source of the voices and she found that the light was much less bright and tentatively she opened one of them. Her vision, however, was still blurry so all she could make out were indistinct figures.

She started when a gentle voice beside her spoke out in slow French, "Etes-vous bien?"

In her current state it took her a while to understand that he was asking if she was OK. She ached all over but she had always been one to play down any injury and so she nodded.

"Voulez-vous de l'eau?" the same voice asked again. Once again she nodded. She heard the man walk away.

Gradually her vision returned and she realised she was in a white hospital bed. She looked around: everything was white, the wall behind her, the curtains on her left and right, the bed, the bedside table. It was so white that for one ridiculous moment, Lillie felt a little bit like she was in a bed of snow.

She was about to try using her voice, when one of the curtains was ripped open revealing an old woman wearing hideous lime green robes, which made Lillie scream, although the sound that issued from her throat was more of a rasp. She saw a doctor holding a glass of water in his hand running towards her, "Madame!" he shouted at the woman but she ignored him.

She turned her black eyes on Lillie and said in a voice that reminded her of sandpaper, "Happy birthday my little acid pop!"

The doctor finally reached her but the woman slapped him and started talking to him in rapid French, which Lillie was too shocked to try and understand. This was wrong, this woman must have made a mistake; Lillie's birthday wasn't until the 31st and besides, she had never seen this woman in her life. The woman pulled out a few sheets of official looking paper and shoved them in the man's face.

She turned to face Lillie. "You're coming with me," she said in that horrible voice. She grabbed Lillie by the wrist, making Lillie yelp with pain and dragged her out of the ward, along some white corridors, that smelled of medicine, out of the hospital and only stopped once they had reached the edge of the parking lot.

Here, Lillie regained control of herself and pulled her arm out of the woman's grip. The woman turned to face Lillie, an unfathomable expression upon her face. "Who are you?" asked Lillie.

"I'm your great-aunt, but more importantly your guardian. Now come with me," she rasped reaching forward to grab Lillie with one bony hand but Lillie dodged out of the way.

She refused to believe this and said, "You're not my guardian. I think you've got the wrong girl. And if you're my great-aunt how come I've never seen you before?"

"My squib sister was evicted from our family, that is why, now come!" ordered the old woman with a nasty smile that revealed dirty yellow teeth.

Then the strange woman grabbed her arm again, and the whole world twisted into what seemed to be a very narrow tube that Lillie was forced through herself. She clamped her eyes shut thinking she might die, but thankfully, it stopped. When she felt the ground under her feet again, her knees gave way and she started retching.

She got shakily back to her feet, breathing heavily, but her breath caught when she realised that they had just moved; the mountain landscape of south-east France had been replaced by rolling hills with the sun rising over their crests. But what really drew Lillie's attention was the enormous house in front of her. It was more of a mansion and normally Lillie would have loved to come here but at the moment she was a bit too shocked to do anything.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" asked the woman, once again causing Lillie, who had forgotten she was there, to jump.

"Y-yes," Lillie just about managed to stammer. She looked back to the mansion, and saw someone walking down the drive towards them. The man, whose name turned out to be Ezekielis, exchanged greetings with the woman, who was Dulcia. Ezekielis was the thinnest man that Lillie had ever seen; he could be no more than 30 years old but his face was so skeletal that he could have passed for a hundred. The drooping skin had a yellowish tinge and his hair was so greasy it looked almost wet. Lillie was almost surprised when he pulled the heavy-looking open gate with such ease.

"Is this her?" Ezekielis spat, pointing at Lillie.

"Unfortunately," Dulcia replied. "Go!" she then barked at Lillie pointing up the driveway. "Little muggle brat. I'm sure Dianysia is so proud of her squib children and her grandchildren."

"Is the Dianysia you're talking about my grandmother?" piped up Lillie putting on a show of courage that she really did not feel.

"Not that it is any of your business but yes it is."

They entered the mansion. She pretended not to be impressed by the high roof, the enormous windows, the giant chandelier and all the statues and everything else in the enormous room. "Where's my family?" Lillie asked hopefully.

"Dead?" laughed the old woman.

Lillie's stomach churned and she felt as though she was about to start retching again. "What? You're lying!" she choked.

"Oh am I?" crowed the woman.

Lillie felt tears burning at the back of her eyes blurring her vision so she couldn't see where she was being dragged now. After about a minute of twisting corridors and long stairwells, they stopped.

"This is your room," said Dulcia. Lillie felt herself being pushed into a room where she fell, sprawling on the floor. She heard a door slam behind her and Dulcia's footsteps retreating down the corridor.

Lillie didn't move; she just lay there on the floor sobbing until she had no tears left. What seemed like hours later, she sat up and wiped her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a corner and stay there for a long time.

She looked around her new bedroom, it was about twice the size of her last one, and was painted a dark green colour. She had a queen-sized bed, covered with a green duvet, with a large silver snake at the centre. It was probably the fanciest thing that Lillie had ever had, but she didn't care about that.

There wasn't a window; most of the light seemed to be coming from oil lamps on the walls, one on each wall to be precise. There was a painting of someone she didn't know on one wall with a desk underneath it, and a chair and a bookcase against the other. There was a door which when opened led to an en suite bathroom.

Lillie leant against one of the walls and tried to remember what had happened, for surely this woman could not be right. Her parents_ couldn't_ be dead. She needed them. Any anger she had felt for her parents disappeared, but it was not replaced, instead it felt like a large hole was growing inside her stomach; a hole into which Lillie wanted to disappear. Then she remembered, they had gone to a lake. She had had one of her 'accidents' and they had left immediately. Then, what? She had been talking with her mother when there had been a screech of tyres, an ear-splitting crashing sound, shattering noise and then she had been thrown.

Lillie clapped a hand over her mouth; there must have been a car crash. "Oh, god!" she moaned before once again falling intro dry sobs.

What felt like weeks later Lillie stopped and wiping her nose on her sleeve, she stood up and looked gloomily around the room once more.

"Thank goodness you've stopped bawling," said a haughty, drawling voice from behind her. She spun around; she hadn't heard anyone enter the room. But there was no one in the room apart from her. She looked around, but the room was definitely empty, "Over here, foolish child," she turned to face the direction from which the sound had come from. But the only thing there was the painting and the desk. She noticed a letter, on the desk and began moving towards it when she noticed that the painting was _moving._ She took a step back in shock and fell again. "Don't start again," said the man in the portrait.

"You- you- you can talk?" Lillie stammered, completely astonished.

"Of course I can," said the man, sounding almost offended, "Now can you please open that letter, it's been on this table for almost a week now." Lillie opened her mouth to speak but the man shushed her so she did as she was told. She picked up the letter from the desk and looked at the address:

_Lillie Whitehead  
>Selwyn Mansion<br>Gloucestershire_

Lillie knew the name Selwyn from somewhere, had it been her grandmother's name?

Deciding that it was, Lillie opened the letter which had been shut using a wax seal with a crest she did not recognise embedded into it.

_Dear Miss Whitehead,  
>We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.<br>Term begins on the September 1. We await your owl by no later than the August 28.  
>Yours sincerely,<em>

_Filius Flitwick  
>Deputy Headmaster<em>

**Author's note:**

**Okay, I have just redone this chapter and I hope it's better than before, it's certainly longer and it makes more sense.**

**Thanks to the reviewers who made me rewrite this chapter. You helped kickstart me into action.**

**Original A/N:**

**This is my first proper fic; I would like to thank Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl for helping me to finally start writing.**

**Please read and review as it would really be encouraging for me to know that at least one person out there like this.**


	2. Shopping

Silver Lining

Chapter 2: Shopping

Lillie, not quite sure what to think, looked for the list that she had been promised. The further down the list she read, the more astonished she looked until the painting on the wall told her to stop looking so gormless. This made her jump out of her skin: she didn't think she was ever going to get used to talking paintings. She glanced down at the list again just to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

_First years will require the following items: __  
><em>_3 sets of black robes__  
><em>_1 black or dark blue cloak with silver fastenings__  
><em>_1 pair of formal shoes__  
><em>_1 black pointed wizard's hat__  
><em>_2 grey or white jumpers (optional)__  
><em>_The standard book of spells Grade 1__  
><em>_1000 ma__gical herbs and fungi__  
><em>_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger__  
><em>_Essential__ Defence Against the Dark Arts__by __Arsenius Jigger__  
>One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore<em>_  
>A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot<em>_  
>A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch<em>_  
><em>_The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk__  
><em>_1 wand__  
><em>_1 set of brass scales__  
><em>_1 standard thick-bottomed cauldron (pewter)__  
><em>_1 pair of dragon-hide gloves__  
><em>_House scarves, ties and emblems provided on sorting__  
><em>_St__udents may bring their own clothes, chess sets, gobstones and other recreational items for personal use__  
><em>_(Please note that first years are not permitted to bring their own broomsticks to school.__  
>First years may bring an owl, a cat or a rat.<em>

"Is this a joke?" she asked the painting; despite everything that had happened to her, she could not help but feel sceptical, a trait she had inherited from her mother. "Is Hogmoles or whatever it's called real?

"A joke!" cried the portrait, sounding offended like he always did when she asked questions, "Are you telling me that you've never heard of Hogwarts?"

"No," replied Lillie, feeling like she was about to get shouted at, but instead the man in the portrait fainted.

It was a few minutes before he came back round and when he did he asked Lillie with a hint of disbelief, "Are you a muggle?"

"That's what that Dulcia woman called me. What does it mean?"

"Well I never! A muggle in Selwyn Mansion, who would ever have thought?" exclaimed the painting and Lillie thought he was about to faint again but he remained conscious.

For the next half-hour or so, she spoke with the man in the painting. She discovered that his name was Barnabas, as well as what muggles were, and he told her a bit about the wizarding world but when he asked why Lillie was there, Lillie gave an involuntary squeak and refused to tell him, she did not want the whole world to know that she was an orphan if, she was in fact an orphan.

Their conversation was interrupted when Dulcia slammed into the room and exclaimed in an uncharacteristic and unsuitable voice that they were going shopping. She proceeded to snatch the list out of Lillie's hands and stalked out of Lillie's room.

"You should probably go with her," Barnabas advised.

Lillie didn't want to go, she was starting to like Barnabas, but she took his advice and scurried after Dulcia who was just turning round the corner at the end of the corridor. They were already outside by the time Lillie caught up with her and Dulcia didn't even look at her great-niece but grabbed her arm. At once Lillie felt like she was being squeezed through a tight tube. This time when the sickening feeling stopped they were in the middle of a busy street.

"You're train leaves tomorrow, so we're staying there tonight," she pointed at a very fancy looking hotel, and then she pointed at a shop and told Lillie, "You go there and get the robes and I'll go get your books." With that she walked away leaving Lillie alone in a strange street.

Lillie peered hesitantly at the shop that Dulcia had indicated,_ Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions_, and then at the other shops around her. "Where am I?" she muttered to herself. The passers-by gave her strange looks and Lillie realised almost immediately why, everyone around her was wearing robes, black, scarlet, green, one woman was wearing a set of bubble-gum pink robes; Lillie felt quite out of place in the pair of white hospital pyjamas and slippers.

Feeling a little scared she half-ran into the shop called Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. The moment she stepped through the door a shop assistant stepped in front of her, she looked at Lillie with one eyebrow raised a little but a second later she smiled. "Hogwarts?" she asked. Lillie nodded, "Of course," said the shop assistant, "follow me."

Lillie was led past long racks of different coloured robes, to a small fitting area at the back of the shop. The fitting area wasn't all that different to the fitting areas in normal department stores, with pins, measuring types and scissors piled up in one corner. There was already a boy standing there, about a year or two older than her, he was standing on a stool with overlong robes on pinned at the sleeves chest and hem. The boy himself was relatively tall with golden-brown hair and tanned skin.

The shop assistant then brought out a stool for her to stand on and soon she was in a similar state to the boy. The shop assistant then wrote down the measurements of the two of them and bustled off to find robes the right size.

"Are you going into your first year at Hogwarts?" asked the boy next to her turning to face her.

"Yes," said Lillie. Realising that she sounded a bit rude she quickly added, "Are you?"

"Nah," said the boy, with a wolfish grin, "I'm in second year. So, what house do you think you'll be in?"

Lillie had no idea what this boy meant by houses. "Err… I don't actually know what the houses are."

"Oh, you must be a muggle-born, I'm sorry I didn't realise," the boy said, flushing slightly.

Barnabas had called her that. "Yeah, I am. I do know a bit about Hogwarts and magic and that kind of stuff. Just not houses," said Lillie, a slight pleading note creeping into her voice.

The boy gave a short laugh, "OK, let me explain. When you get to Hogwarts you will be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."

"How do they sort you?" inquired Lillie.

"You try on a psychic, talking hat," said the boy. Lillie raised an eyebrow sceptically. "I'm not joking," added the boy with another laugh.

"A psychic, talking hat?" asked Lillie incredulously and the boy nodded before continuing

"This hat finds out what kind of a person you are and chooses the house depending on what it sees. If you are brave or bold, you go to Gryffindor. If you are cunning or sly, you go to Slytherin. Hufflepuffs are hard-working and loyal. Or if you're clever and awesome, you get into Ravenclaw."

"I'm guessing you're a Ravenclaw, aren't you?" asked Lillie. He nodded. "Well I don't consider myself any of those things so I don't really know which one I'll get into."

At that point the shop assistant came round the corner with a bag for the boy; he took a few strange gold coins out of his pocket handed them to the shop assistant who went over to the till. As he was leaving he turned back to Lillie and said, "If you're going to Hogwarts, you might want to get some extra robes as well, otherwise you'll look completely out of place." He then turned on his heel and left.

Lillie was a little taken aback by this. "Thank you," she called after him.

When the shopkeeper next came back around the corner Lillie asked for an extra two pairs of robes. She was taken to an aisle with a sign 'Girls 10-15' hanging over it and was told to take her pick. She ended up choosing a bright blue one with an orange sash and one white one which was much less eye-catching which she would probably wear more often.

"That'll be fifteen galleons please," said the shop assistant.

Lillie froze, she had no money and she didn't even know what galleons were. At that moment, however, Dulcia entered the shop and for once Lillie was actually happy to see her. Dulcia paid for the robes and then beckoned Lillie to follow her.

By then, it was getting quite late and Lillie thought that they would be going to the hotel, but Dulcia said, "All you need now is a wand, though I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't let you have one."

"A wand!" Lillie breathed excitedly.

She led Lillie over to a shop called Ollivander's and sons (and grandsons). She pushed the door open and led the way inside. Once inside, Dulcia sat down on an old stool and gave Lillie a rush shove towards the counter.

There was a man behind the counter and he took out a measuring tape and pulling out a long, thin, wooden wand of his own, he set it to measuring Lillie all over. During this uncomfortable process the man asked Lillie several questions, including her birthday, favourite colour and her middle name; he scribbled down the measurements and Lillie's answers on a sheet of parchment which he handed Lillie.

"We're done here," said the man before pointing at a door beside Lillie. "Go through there and give this to my brother.

In the next room, Lillie handed the parchment to another man who was waiting behind another counter. He scanned it quickly and disappeared behind another door, when he returned he was holding about twenty long thin boxes. He picked up the first one muttered something Lillie couldn't hear and then handed it to her. She opened the box and inside lay a long wooden wand. She reached to take it out of the box, but the moment her finger touched it the box was snatched out of her hand by the man.

The same thing happened with the next wand, and the next one and the one after that. Eventually all the wands in the pile were gone. The man sighed and he looked back down at the list. Maybe Dulcia was right, maybe she wouldn't get a wand. Then he gasped and dashed out of the room returning a minute later with another box. He handed this one to her and this time he didn't snatch it straight back, she picked up the wand and looked at it. It was different to the others, a different colour; it started to feel warm in her hand.

The man spoke audibly for the first time, "14 inches, quite long. Flexible with a core of bicorn tail hair, very unusual indeed, good for charms I would imagine and perfectly fine for everything else. As you can see, it is made from the wood of a silver birch.

Lillie stared at the wand awestruck; she had barely heard what the man had said, she returned to the first room. Dulcia paid for the wand, and they left the shop. Dulcia took the wand and put it in one of the shopping bags hanging off her arm and when Lillie protested but Dulcia slapped her.

They walked the rest of the short journey in silence and the only words she heard Dulcia say were, "I have a reservation under Selwyn."

Dulcia had of course booked to separate bedrooms and she pushed Lillie into her room before walking away to find her own.

The room was perfectly comfortable: her bed was covered in a white duvet and a purple quilt but despite all this, Lillie barely slept that night. She thought about the events of the past week. At first she cried even more. After that disbelief and incredulity seeped through her veins. _Magic can't exist don't be ridiculous._ Then she started to feel excited. _I have magic __powers;__I am going to a magic school__, I wish Milo could see this, he'd love it__._ At the thought of her younger brother she felt guilty for feeling happy. She missed him so much; she missed all of them so much, what would she do without them? Once again she felt sobs forming in her throat and tears ran from her eyes.

At last, she drifted into an uneasy sleep: very sad, quite excited, slightly guilty and extremely confused.

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, now I've redone this chapter too, all I have left to do is chapter 3, I think it's alright from then on.**

**As always thanks to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl.**

**Finally to those who haven't read this before please review, and those who have read this, please review again and tell me if you think it's better.**


	3. Journeys

Silver Lining

Chapter 3: Journeys

The next morning she woke up to the sound of a bell. Slightly confused as to why there was a bell, she sat up groggily and started trying to locate the source of the noise. Then at the door she spotted a small imp-like creature about three feet tall.

When it spotted that she was awake it said in a squeaky voice, "Madam Selwyn requested that you should be woken at eight o'clock. She is waiting for Miss in the lobby in half an hour."

After that little announcement the creature disappeared. The night before she had decided that this was all real and she was going to have to accept it for what it was, crazy. Even so, teleporting imps were going to take some getting used to.

She got up and went into the en suite, had a quick shower and brushed her teeth using the disposable plastic toothbrush that was provided for her. She then pulled the white robes she had brought the day before over her head and examined herself in the mirror on the dresser in the corner. It didn't look to ridiculous, just like a slightly odd shaped dress.

She grabbed her dirty clothes and put them into one of the bags full of books. She realised that she didn't have any of her own clothes with her, she was thinking of a way of bringing of this up in conversation with Dulcia, who she hoped she wouldn't have to speak with too much.

When she got down to the lobby, however, she found a familiar battered old suitcase waiting for her. It was dark green with brown leather at the corners and a leather handle, it was about two feet across; this was her father's old suitcase. The memory of her father brought tears to her eyes, but she just about managed to keep them at bay.

This was lucky because a few seconds later Dulcia came down the steps a few shopping bags in her arms, which she thrust into Lillie's arms instead. "Ezekielis sent that," she pointed at the suitcase, disgust etched across face, "It has some of your clothes and I recommend that you burn it."

"I'd rather keep it," replied Lillie coolly, putting on a show of bravery she didn't feel.

"Suit yourself. Now follow me, we're walking to the train station and you're carrying the bags, I'm far too old you see." A nasty grin spread across her face as she said these words. Lillie took a rain check: there were four, no five shopping bags; she opened her suitcase and saw that apart from a skirt and some underwear there wasn't very much in it.

About ten minutes later they were walking through the streets of London, Lillie wasn't sure how they'd got there; they had gone down the street through a wall, crossed a grimy pub and ended up in the middle of London. She had managed to put all the bags except one into the suitcase and so she wasn't having too much trouble. The only problem was that King's Cross station was quite far away and the suitcase was heavy.

About an hour and a half later they were at the station, "There's your ticket, enjoy your year. Oh, and before I forget don't come back for Christmas." Dulcia then turned and walked out of the station with surprising gracefulness for someone of her age and personality.

Lillie glanced down at her ticket; there was no seat or carriage number. Written at the top was _The Hogwarts Express, _below that was the time 11:00, and below that was a platform nine and three quarters. There must be a mistake she thought. She looked around for someone to ask but before she did, she realised that no one would believe her.

She started wandering aimlessly between platforms nine and ten, at a complete loss of what to do. She grew hopeful when she spotted the boy she had spoken to at Madam Malkin's; he was leaning against a barrier and as she walked towards him he seemed to slide right through it. She rushed up to the spot where the boy had disappeared and she put her hand against the wall, only the wall wasn't there and to her surprise her hand just went straight through it.

She quickly withdrew her hand and examined it closely; it seemed to be perfectly fine. Lillie tentatively poked her toe towards the wall and it, like her hand, slid through as though there was nothing there. Gulping with apprehension, Lillie's foot followed her toe through the wall, and then her leg and eventually, Lillie's whole body had emerged on the other side. She gasped and took a step back but this only resulted with Lillie stepping back into the real world. She took in a deep breath, and once again stepped through the seemingly solid wall.

This time, she paused and took a second to look around. She was on a large long platform that was crowded with hundreds of parents and children saying their goodbyes; the sight of such happy families made the hole in Lillie's stomach grow until she was almost consumed and she looked instead at the other things on the platform. The other thing that caught her eye was a magnificent scarlet steam train with steam billowing from the front, obscuring most of the platform. But far from taking her mind off of her family, it actually made her think about Milo, who had collected little model trains.

Lillie was only able to tear her gaze away from the engine when a large family came in behind her, almost running into her. She called a quick apology over her shoulder as she weaved her way through the throng towards the train. When she finally managed to get into the train she had to walk through two carriages before managing to find an empty compartment. She went in put her suitcase up on the luggage rack and settled in a seat by the window.

About twenty minutes later she heard a short sharp whistle-blast and someone cried "Last call, all aboard!"

Someone slid the compartment door open making her jump. She turned around to face it and saw a very pretty girl with long blonde hair standing there. She didn't look much older than Lillie.

"Is any one sitting here?" she asked pointing at the unoccupied seats around Lillie.

"No," Lillie said trying to smile.

"The girl leaned out of the compartment and called down the aisle, "Teddy! Teddy! I've got one." She then flounced in threw her bag on to the luggage rack and collapsed down onto the seat.

Then the boy from Madam Malkin's came through the door. At first he didn't notice Lillie and said to the girl, "Thank God you found this I thought we were gonna have to share with the Slytherins." That's when he noticed Lillie in the corner.

"Sorry," he said, "you don't mind us to you?"

"Not at all," replied Lillie, it was actually quite nice to have some company.

"Didn't I meet you in Diagon Alley, in Madam Malkin's?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Well I'm Teddy as you now know," he glanced at the girl, "and this is Victoire, she's in your year."

"Hi," Lillie said to Victoire, "I'm Lillie. It's nice to meet you."

"Enchante," replied the girl.

Teddy rolled his eyes, "You'll have to excuse her, she speaks French and she likes to show it off, and she also knows that I don't know what she means." He glared at her and she smiled serenely back at him, showing off dazzling white teeth.

"I don't mind," Lillie said, "I speak French too."

Victoire looked momentarily irritated before smiling and saying, "Well, that trick won't work on you then will it?"

Lillie gave an uncertain laugh before looking at the floor. She heard Teddy and Victoire talking and a few minutes later Victoire got up and flounced out of the compartment. Teddy laughing as she ran down the corridor.

Lillie gave him a questioning look, "She's become quite vain recently and I told her that she had spots coming on and now she's terrified," he explained between fits of laughter.

"So, how do your family feel about you being a witch?" he asked, after his laughter died down.

Lillie's smile disappeared, and she felt a lump rise in her throat. "M-m-my family?" she stammered, her eyes starting to burn, "They, um, they took it, err, really, really well, yeah."

"To me that sounds like they took it very badly and are now ashamed of you actually. Am I right? Come on, you can tell me," he said reassuringly.

Lillie let out a mirthless laugh, "I wish. No, my parents died in a car crash a week ago."

"Oh. I'm so sorry, I didn't realise. If it's any consolation, I know how you feel, my parents died when I was a baby." He tried on a smile, but Lillie could see the pain behind it.

"I'm sorry," she said, "you've only just met me and I'm already making it uncomfortable for you," Lillie whispered, biting back the tears which threatened to break out at any moment.

"I don't mind," he said placing his hand on her arm trying to comfort the girl who was clearly very distressed, "What happened?" he asked.

And with that Lillie swallowed the tears, and told him everything that had happened to her since the crash: her coma, Dulcia's mistreatment, her confusion with everything that was happening to her at the moment. While she was telling him this, she managed not to cry.

"Well, this Dulcia woman doesn't sound like a particularly nice woman," he said at the end making her laugh slightly. "Have you decided which house you reckon you'll be in yet?" he asked, bringing the conversation to a happier note.

Before Lillie had the chance to answer, the compartment door was slammed open by Victoire, who looked murderous. "YOU LIAR!" she screamed at Teddy and jumped on top of him trying to break him, or so it seemed.

Five minutes later, Teddy had managed to subdue Victoire, and with many assurances of her beauty beyond measure, she had calmed down.

"Where were we? Oh yeah, what house do you reckon you'll be in?" Teddy asked again.

"Gryffindor," said Victoire immediately, "like everyone else in my family."

"Do families always get put in the same houses?" asked Lillie.

"No," replied Teddy, "my dad was in Gryffindor, my mum was in Hufflepuff-" at this Victoire snorted and he punched her in the arm making her wince and look grumpy again, "-and I'm in Ravenclaw, definitely the best house by the way."

"I'll do my best to get into Ravenclaw then," Lillie laughed.

For the next hours, Lillie, Victoire and Teddy exchanged questions and answers on the muggle and wizarding worlds.

"But how can girls survive without magic, they must all be so ugly!" exclaimed Victoire

Both Ted and Lillie burst out laughing, and then the compartment door opened once again, revealing a young woman pushing a trolley along, "Anything from the trolley?" she asked kindly, she was short and blonde with the biggest eyes Lillie had ever seen.

"Yes please," Ted said standing up and taking a handful of money out of his pocket.

"What would you like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Surprise me!" Ted grinned, handing over the money.

The woman counted it briefly before grabbing things off the trolley at random, and handing them over to Ted. "Thanks," Ted said. The woman smiled and left. Ted dropped everything in his arms onto the small table under the window.

At the sight of all this food, even though it did have very strange names, Lillie realised that she hadn't eaten since she'd come out of her coma. She suddenly felt ravenous.

"Do you mind if I have something?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah of course, take whatever you want." That she thinks is a big mistake, he should not have said those words.

The first thing she tried was a box of jelly beans called Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. They had discussed these and she knew that she had to be careful otherwise she might get a bogey flavoured one, Lillie found the very _idea _of bogey flavoured sweets ridiculous, but even so, it wasn't worth the risk. She delved her small hand into the box of multi-coloured sweets and pulled out a fluorescent green one, which made her think of the nuclear power plant in 'The Simpsons'. Tentatively she put the bean on her tongue and chewed. She let out a laugh, it was lime. The next one tasted a bit like roast beef and was a whitish colour which she had expected to be mint. The third one, however, was one of the most disgusting things she had ever tasted, somewhere between rust, bad eggs and sweat. She immediately spat it out and it soared into Victoire's drink. Victoire looked down as her drink started hissing and spitting like it was boiling. Teddy knowing a little bit about pranking himself swore, grabbed the drink and threw it into the corridor. A few seconds later there was a ploumph sound and brown sludge exploded all over the corridor. That was when Lillie learnt that Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans and Filibuster's fat-free fizz was like Mentos and diet Coke.

The three of them all fell to the floor in fits of laughter, even Victoire. About fifteen minutes later someone came over to their coach, cleared up the mess, and started asking around in all the compartments. "Excuse me, do you three know anything about this?" he asked slightly pompously.

"No, sir, I was asleep, it woke me up," said Lillie, putting on a good show of innocence. The boy made a frustrated sound and stepped back out of the compartment.

"I think you fooled him," said Victoire.

"I always wanted to be an actress," said Lillie. "When I was a muggle anyway, now I just want to learn magic." Lillie's excitement was obvious and Teddy and Victoire both grinned.

"You will _definitely _be in Ravenclaw!" exclaimed Teddy.

At that moment another boy came into the compartment, he looked for Ted and said, "We're almost there, Ted, you might want to get changed."

"Oh yeah," said Teddy glancing down at his watch. "I'll leave the room while you two get changed shall I?"

When Teddy had left closing the curtains behind him, Victoire and Lillie both grabbed their respective suit cases of the luggage rack, and pulled out their black robes. Feeling a little embarrassed, they both turned away from one another and quickly pulled off their old robes replacing them with the black ones. Then they switched positions with Teddy and a minute later they were all back in the compartment, looking quite sombre in their black things.

In this new atmosphere, the ghost of a smile faded from Lillie's face as guilt crept up on her; she shouldn't be – couldn't be – having fun, not in her current situation. She fought to keep her face devoid of emotion, but she noticed Teddy looking at her both curiously and understandingly; Victoire did not seem to notice.

"Look there's Hogwarts between the mountains!" exclaimed Teddy suddenly, both Lillie and Victoire whipped around but all that Lillie saw, was a light disappearing round behind the mountains.

"Mountains? Where are we?" asked Lillie.

"Somewhere in Scotland," said Ted.

"Wait, we're slowing down," said Victoire.

Sure enough, Lillie could feel the train slowly decelerating, until they finally grinded to a stop. There was a flurry of movement both inside and outside of the compartment. It seemed they had arrived. Lillie was starting to feel a little jittery now. She grabbed her suitcase, and noticed that her hands were shaking. She quickly put one in her pocket and gripped the suitcase a bit more tightly than necessary with the other. She, Teddy and Victoire slipped out into the corridor and into the throng. Gradually they moved towards the exit, and when they got out the first thing that Lillie heard was a mystical voice.

"Is that _Trelawney," _Teddy laughed and headed off in another direction.

This time the girls did not follow him because the woman called Trelawney was calling, "First years! First years to me!"

Lillie and Victoire moved towards her, it seemed that every one else was as scared as they were.

"Is that everyone? Yes, I think it is. Good, follow me!" she called and headed down a pathway leading away from all the other students. At the end of the pathway, was a Lake and there was a collective gasp as the first years looked up.

**Author's note:**

**Well, I finally managed to redo this chapter, and about time too. For those of you who are checking it out for the first time, I hope you like it and for those of you who have decided to read this version of the chapter, I hope you think it's better than before. At least it's all in the same tense this time. Don't know what happened there. :S**

**Thanks as always to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl, whose stories originally inspired me to write my own.**

**Thank you also to my wonderful reviewers, particularly those who leave long constructive reviews, such as Zheeba89 (not the only one, but the only one whose name I can remember), everyone follow her example.**

**Stay tuned for the rewrite of chapter four. I don't know how many chapters I will redo before I start on chapter 19.**


	4. A Jumpy First Night

Silver Lining

Chapter 4: A Jumpy First Night

The castle was one of the most beautiful things Lillie, and probably most of the other students, had ever seen. Even across the large smooth black lake it seemed large, like a many eyed grey beast lying in wait. There were turrets and towers sticking out all over like porcupine quills and the light from inside the windows seemed to be flickering oddly, as though a fire was raging inside.

She glanced around to whisper to Victoire, but it seemed that they had gotten separated in the crowd. Instead, she looked around at the rest of her year, there were about eighty people in the crowd and all were staring in awe at the castle.

"There'll be plenty of time to admire it later," came the vague voice of Professor Trelawney, "Now, however, we are on a tight schedule. So pip, pip!"

With that she led them to the shore where there were about twenty little boats waiting for them. "Four people in each boat! Not you four, the stars show that that won't end well," Trelawney called over them in her usual tones. Lillie glanced upwards; most of the stars were hidden behind clouds and the ones that weren't didn't hold anything special for Lillie, so she shrugged and moved towards the boats.

Lillie ended up in a boat with two boys, one short and slightly overweight with white-blonde hair, the other broad-shouldered and tall, with short dark hair, and a girl who looked like she was about to faint, a thin film of sweat across her dark face.

"Hi, I'm Chris," said the boy with dark hair, talking to nobody in particular.

"Lillie, it's nice to meet you," she smiled, she was glad that someone had broken the silence.

The other boy mumbled something which sounded like, "Frank." The other girl said "Leslie."

After that little greeting, nobody spoke again until they reached an underground dock. "Alright, everybody out," said Trelawney.

There was a splash and a squeal as someone fell in. Lillie craned her neck to see if she could find the poor guy but there were too many people in the way. Instead, she turned back to Trelawney, who was waiting impatiently for the commotion to be over. A few minutes later, when the boy had been pulled back out of the water and dried by a wave of Trelawney's wand, they were walking up a seemingly endless spiral staircase. Finally they came out into a large room with stone floors, walls and ceiling. Lillie was amazed by the sight of it all, although she was feeling more and more nervous and slightly intimidated.

"Wait here, should anyone speak I can foresee that bad things will happen to them," said Trelawney, turning to them, her voice even more mystical than before. With a swish, she glided out of the room, multi-coloured shawls trailing behind her.

Silence. No one uttered a word until she returned; when she did, she didn't talk either, on the contrary she acted very mysteriously, holding a finger to her lips and beckoning them towards the large wooden double doors. Then, causing all of the people gathered around to jump about a foot in the air, she slammed open the doors melodramatically. "Come," she said simply.

As she was right in the middle of the crowd, Lillie couldn't see anything other than the people on either side of her. Slowly, they advanced. After about fifty metres, they stopped and once again Lillie heard Trelawney's voice, "When I call your name, come and sit on this stool and place this hat on your head." Lillie couldn't see the stool or the hat, she was too small, and there were too many people all around her.

"Anoka, Ismail!" there was a ripple of movement as everyone got out of the way of Ismail, who was right at the back. As he passed by her, she saw him trembling with fear. His dark eyes showed that he wanted nothing more than to sink through the floor for which Lillie could hardly blame him. A few seconds later she lost sight of him, there was a short pause after that before a voice suddenly shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" This must be the talking hat Teddy had told her about on the train. What was more shocking though, was the cheer that suddenly came from her right.

Maybe that was where the other Hufflepuffs were. After Ismail, a tall skinny boy called Louis Austin was sorted into Slytherin, a girl called Mindy Bamforth was sorted into Slytherin too, a boy call Michael Bilding went to Gryffindor and a girl called Abigail Bones was also sorted into Hufflepuff. Frank duBoyce became the third Hufflepuff and Samantha Brandon became the first Ravenclaw. After this, Lillie lost track of the names, what she did notice was that different people took different lengths of time to sort.

As the crowd thinned she realised who was cheering: seated around four different tables were hundreds of students. Every time someone got sorted, one of these tables would erupt into applause. Eventually, there were only four people left: Chris Timberlake, the boy from the boat, who got sorted into Ravenclaw, his brother Richard, who went to Gryffindor, Victoire and herself.

"Victoire Weasley," called Trelawney peering at the two girls. Victoire, moving as gracefully as ever, flounced forward, sat on the stool and smiled as the hat fell onto her head. A few seconds later, the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" A table somewhere to her left cheered and Victoire removed the hat and glided over to it.

Lillie was now the only person left waiting and she refused to look to either side where she knew everyone would be gazing hungrily at her. By this point she was utterly terrified; everything that could go wrong was flying through her head. She was shaking as she walked towards the stool. Glancing to the sides she confirmed that everyone in the hall was staring at her, the students' eyes boring into her back and the teachers surveying her from the front. Her legs were starting to ache from standing up for so long and so she was very grateful that there was a stool to sit on.

For a fleeting moment she could see everyone in the hall staring at her before the hat was dropped over her eyes and everything went dark.

"Oh my, there is a war raging in your head young lady," said a small voice in her ear making her jump for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

'What do you mean?' she thought back at it.

"I mean that you are impossible to place. Slytherin no, you're a muggle-born, on the other hand, you are brave, loyal and intelligent. Now, I don't think you'd be suited to Gryffindor; far too shy for that. Hufflepuff, maybe, you do work very hard. But I think RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted the last word to the whole hall, and the volume of the cry hurt Lillie's ears.

Lillie jumped up, astounded that everything had gone so well and hurried over to the table that was cheering for her. She saw Teddy cheering with the rest of his, no their house and he grinned at her. Lillie felt strangely happy at being able to call it her house; they looked like a nice bunch. She returned the grin before squeezing onto the end of the bench next to Chris. He greeted her, but before she had the chance to reply, something made her jump- again!

The empty golden platters were no longer empty; from nowhere they had been completely filled with all variety of things. There was every kind of meat, cooked in every kind of way imaginable, not to mention potatoes, carrots, parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower-cheese, pasta (in all shapes and sizes), every kind of sauce she could think of and for some strange reason, rice crispies.

Still hungry despite the food from the train, she piled sausages, mashed potatoes, parsnips and a sauce which she had never seen before but looked nice, onto her plate and began to eat.

It was the best thing she had ever tasted. It was better than the atmosphere at any rate, which was slightly awkward. For the first few minutes, the first years sat in silence while all around them the others chatted jovially. Lillie looked around, there were about twenty first years, about 7 or 8 girls and around 14 boys. Finally, the silence was broken by the girl sitting opposite her, "Hi!" she said brightly to Chris and Lillie, although there was a slight tremor in her voice, "I'm Gillian Marlon, err, who are you?" she asked, slightly nervously.

"I'm Chris, Chris Timberlake and this is Lillie. We met on the boats," he explained.

Following that brief interlude, everyone started talking to each other: asking each other's names, where they lived etc.

"What about you Lillie, where do you live?" asked Gillian.

Lillie thought back to remember the address on the envelope, "Gloucestershire?" she said, although it sounded more like a question, "I've just moved house, and I'm not really sure where it is yet."

"Oh. Do you have any siblings?" Gillian asked, trying to go down a better road.

Lillie swallowed fighting back tears, "Um, yeah, I- I have a younger brother. What about you?"

"Three. Two sisters, one older; she is in the fifth year, one younger; she's coming in two years time. And then there's Jeremy who is in the year above us." she pointed down the table at a boy who was chatting with some friends, "That's him. What about your brother, when is he coming?"

"I don't think he will come," said Lillie, struggling to remain composed.

Gill had realised that Lillie was uncomfortable and so quickly changed the topic. "So you're a muggle-born then?"

"Kind of. Yeah."

"Well don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine." she smiled at Lillie, who smiled back. Maybe life here at Hogwarts wouldn't be too hard for her. She had expected there to be more of a negative reaction to her being a muggle born.

"Did you expect me not to be cool with that? You look kinda surprised."

"It's just that my grandmother's sister… never mind," she trailed off. She didn't like being so open, these people were pretty much strangers, she didn't want to worry them with her domestic problems.

"Wait, I thought you were muggle-born. How come your grandmother's sister… what?" Gillian asked, looking slightly perplexed.

"My grandmother was a witch, but she married a muggle, and my mother was not a witch either, and she also married a muggle. My grandmother's sister, Dulcia Selwyn, was very disapproving of my grandmother for marrying a muggle, and during the holidays she had to look after me for a bit. I just thought a lot of witches and wizards didn't like muggles," Lillie explained, trying not to make it sound too bad, but by the look on Gillian and Chris', who had started listening in, faces she had failed.

"Selwyn?" he asked.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"They're famous, and not for anything good." The look on Chris' face was not reassuring and Lillie was starting to feel a little anxious. She looked at Chris questioningly, "You don't know! Well, um, a year ago, a bunch of people were arrested for muggle abuse, I don't know the details, but a lot of them were Selwyns," Chris said sheepishly, looking apprehensive.

Lillie did not know what to say. Luckily she didn't have to, for, a few seconds after Chris had finished, the platters of food in front of her, switched for trays of cakes, bowls of ice cream and plates of biscuits and chocolates.

She grabbed a biscuit and started nibbling it, but she wasn't hungry, what little appetite that had remained after the main course, had vanished completely and all she felt was a slight apprehension. She stopped talking after that, retreating into her usual cocoon of silence, once again fighting off the tears that burned at the back of her eyes.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the stern looking woman at the centre of the teacher's table stood up and the whole room fell silent. "Welcome, to a new year at Hogwarts, to all of you, whether you are new or old students. Due to his Bonelus, Professor Cardriggy has had to retire and he has been taken to St. Mungo's; he will be replaced by Professor Lugitte, who has come in from Beaux batons." There was a smattering of applause before the woman continued.

"Our new students should be aware that the forest on the edge of the grounds is out of bounds, prefects will tell you more about it tomorrow morning. Now to you all, I say good night," she smiled at them before putting on a much more serious face and calling, "Get to bed!" causing some people to jump and others to laugh. The next thing she knew, everyone was getting up and moving towards the double doors that they had come through. She looked across at Gillian who looked just as confused as she felt.

"First years, to me! Ravenclaw first years, come to me!" Lillie could hear someone calling over the hubbub. Relieved, she moved towards the voice and finally reached its source: a boy no older than sixteen. "Is that all of you? Well if it isn't, too bad. Follow me and try to remember the way, I'm taking you to the common room, you'll spend a lot of your free time there. Tomorrow morning before your first lessons at nine o'clock I am going to talk to the boys and someone called Maud Keyes will talk to the girls." The boy was already leading them away by this point and the first years once again found themselves in the large entrance hall.

Lillie tried to remember the way that they were going but they went through so many hidden passages and up so many spiral staircases that before long she had no clue where they were. They stopped when they reached a large wooden door with a bronze eagle-head knocker. The boy who Lillie assumed was a prefect knocked the knocker three times and then stepped back.

Lillie jumped along with a few other people as the eagle's beak opened and a smooth voice issued out from it, "What is a word made up of 4 letters yet is also made up of 3. Although is written with 8 letters, and then with 4. Rarely consists of 6, and never is written with 5?" it asked.

"To get into the common room, you have to answer a question, if you get it wrong you have to wait for someone else to come along and get it right," explained the prefect. There was a long pause as the prefect tried to work out the answer to the riddle. He swore.

From behind them someone called out, "What's the hold up?"

The message was passed back along with the riddle and two minutes later they were still waiting outside as no one had figured out yet.

Lillie stepped forward; she suddenly realised what the knocker had meant. Looking at the knocker, for she didn't know where else to look, she said nervously, "What: has four letters; yet has three letters; although has eight letters; then has four letters; rarely has six letters and never has five letters. You're talking about letters," she finished triumphantly.

"Precisely," said the knocker and the door swung open. There was a cheer and a rush as everyone moved towards the door.

"First years stay with me!" cried the prefect everyone was pushed into the common room. Ten minutes later, the crush was over and the first years were once again gathered around the prefect. Okay that staircase leads up to the dormitories, girls are the first on the right and boys are the first on the left."

Suddenly feeling very tired Lillie headed up the stairs with the twenty or so others and filed into the first door she came to. She looked around; she was the first one in and walked across the room. There was a trunk or suitcase at the foot of each bed. By the time she found hers, the other six girls had come in. She had a bed right in the corner: it was a four-poster with blue curtains and blankets. Everyone was too tired to speak, so they just got changed and went to bed.

Lillie couldn't get to sleep. Her green eyes brimmed with tears as she thought about her parents and her little brother. Chris' words kept swimming through her mind and she felt slightly scared. Eventually, she allowed the tears too flow and she cried for a long time, trying to make as little noise as possible. Her brown hair splayed out across her pillow, she tossed and turned but could not find any happier thoughts that distracted for her long. When her tears had run dry and she was lying awake, her thoughts still lingering on the events of the past week or so, the door opened creakily, making her jump –again– and a little creature, rather like the one with the bell at the hotel entered, holding a small broom, an equally small mop and several things which Lillie assumed were cleaning products.

"Who are you?" Lillie whispered her voice slightly hoarse from crying for so long. The creature noticed that she was still awake and it bowed low and immediately left the room again. Feeling confused, she finally fell asleep. Her dreams were confused and made little sense, and when she awoke the next day she could hardly remember the little creature and had no recollection of the dream whatsoever.

**Author's note:**

**I've finally redone this chapter, sorry it took so long. I hope it's better than it was before. I don't know when I'll have time to go over chapter five, but I won't change a lot when I do.**


	5. Meetings and Greetings

Silver Lining

Chapter 5: Meetings and Greetings

When she woke up, two of the seven other girls were already up and getting ready for the day, one of the others was sitting up and the others were as still as statues. She didn't know the names of either of the other two girls but she got up anyway.

"Does anyone know where the bathroom is?" asked one of the girls. She was quite tall with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes and quite dark skin.

"It's through that door," said the girl who was sitting up in her bed, pointing at a door opposite Lillie's bed. This one had long dark blonde hair and pale skin and she had blue eyes and was in general very pretty.

Lillie got out of bed and swapped her nightdress for a towel that was hung at the end of her bed. It was dark blue and had a bronze eagle on it, her name was embroidered on one of the corners. She followed the dark girl into the bathroom, taking her toothbrush, hair brush and folded robes with her. It was only then that she noticed that all her things had been unpacked and put in various places: on her bedside table or in her cupboard.

When she got into the bathroom, she smiled at the girl who was already brushing her teeth. Lillie quickly brushed her teeth and jumped into one of the showers. By now she could hear more girls moving about in the dormitory. As Lillie came out of the shower, so did the other girl, looking slightly awkwardly at each other, they turned away from one another and quickly got changed into their black school robes, which had overnight gained a little Ravenclaw emblem above the heart.

"Oh _NO," _the other girl cried suddenly from behind her.

"What's happened?" asked Lillie, a little shocked by this sudden outburst.

"I left my hairbrush back home," she replied. Her eyes lit up when she spotted the one in Lillie's hand. "Could I, maybe, I don't know, borrow yours? When you're done with it, of course."

"Of course you can… err?" she trailed off.

"Parvati Tubal," she supplied, "After my aunt, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil is my mother you see," she looked expectantly at Lillie who felt a little embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who they are, I'm muggle-born. My name's Lillie Whitehead by the way," she explained.

Parvati spent the next five minutes explaining all about her mother and her aunt who had together become best-selling authors. While she did this Lillie brushed her wavy hair, in an attempt to make it straighter, but it just bounced right back. Eventually she handed the brush over to Parvati who took it gratefully.

She had just finished telling Lillie about her mum when a shout caused her and Lillie to jump, "You need to be down in the common room in three minutes!"

Parvati finished brushing her hair and handed the brush back to Lillie who took it along with her towel and toothbrush back into the dormitory and put them in the places where she had found them. The room was full of movement now as all the girls hurried to finish getting ready.

The blonde girl led the charge out of the dormitory and they all rushed down the stairs behind her. Waiting in the common room, was the prefect from the night before and a girl who Lillie assumed was Maud Keyes. A couple of the boys were already there and the rest followed soon after that.

"Girls come with me, and boys go with Toby," said the girl in an authoritative voice before turning on her heel and stalking off to one corner of the common room, past a tall statue of a beautiful woman that Lillie hadn't seen before.

"Right," said the girl turning to face them, "My names is Maud and I am the head girl this year, any problems or questions may be addressed to me as well as Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw house. For now, I am here to tell you about basic life at Hogwarts which will make your first few days easier; in fact I wish that someone had done this for me. First off, breakfast is between seven and nine but is not compulsory. For first years lessons start at nine o'clock on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but eight o'clock on Wednesdays. Each lesson lasts one hour, two if it is a double and there is a fifteen minute break between 2nd and 3rd period. Lunch break starts after 4th period at 13:15 and lunch is served from then till 14:30, when afternoon lessons begin. Again, there are four periods with a fifteen minute break halfway between them and Dinner starts at 18:45 and finishes at 20:00. On Wednesdays it is different: lessons start at 8:00 and carry on till 13:15 with break at the same time as before. Then you have the afternoon free to do whatever you like, but, every three Wednesdays, you have Astronomy at midnight. You will also find that you get five free periods every week. Oh, and before I forget this year it is compulsory to study muggle studies –a few of the girls groaned– so as to… oh, I can't remember, but there's a reason. Are there any questions?" she concluded her speech.

A girl Lillie didn't know tentatively raised her hand and Maud nodded at her pointedly. "How do we know what lessons we have?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice.

"At breakfast today you'll all get given a timetable. Anything else?" she asked.

Lillie wanted to ask "How do you do magic?" but didn't because she was frightened of seeming stupid, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Right in that case, we'll go to breakfast. Oh and you'll also be given a map of the castle to help you get around for the first few days. Now follow me," she ordered and strode out of the common room, through the questioning door as Lillie called it, down the corridor, out through a tapestry, down another corridor, and another, then down six flights of stairs and they arrived into the entrance hall. "There are secret passages to get to the common room faster, but that is the easiest way to remember," she said before pushing the door open enough to pass through.

The girls trooped in behind her and followed her over to the Ravenclaw table where she sat down in between some friends. The first years stood around awkwardly for a few seconds before Gillian stepped from their midst and sat down on an empty bit of the bench at the end of the table. Parvati followed her and sat on her left, then Lillie who sat on her right; the other four girls quickly followed suit and they were all in a line on one side of the bench with Gillian in the middle. Gillian started talking to Parvati and so Lillie turned to the girl on her right: she was tanned with black hair about as long as Lillie's, her eyes were also black. She saw Lillie looking at her and smiled.

"Hi," she said, in a Hispanic accent, "I Isa Marquez-Tabeza."

"I'm Lillie, Lillie Whitehead," said Lillie, "It's nice to meet you."

"You as well," she said. "Me eSpanish, so English not so good for me."

"It's better than my Spanish," Lillie replied.

"You speak ze Spanish?" Isa asked excitedly.

"Un pocito," answered Lillie.

"Muy bien!" she laughed. "My parents tought dat I would have to go to a Spanish school because my English not good enough. So happy now I here," she said grinning slightly. "What your parents say?"

"Oh! My parents are muggles," Lillie explained.

Isa's reply was interrupted by a sheet of paper appearing between them. Lillie looked at it in shock for a second before noticing a small hand on one corner. She followed the arm and came face to face with a tiny and ancient little man. He had fluffy white hair with a bald patch on top. In a squeaky little voice he announced, "Hello girls, I am Professor Flitwick, these are your timetables if you'd be so kind as to pass them around I am far too busy to stay and chat." With that he bustled off up the table.

Lillie looked down at the small stack of papers in front of her. She picked up the first one and looked at the name _Marlon, Gillian_ she tapped Gillian on the shoulder and she turned from her conversation with Parvati to face Lillie.

"Hi Lillie," she said brightly. "Have you met Parvati?"

"Yeah we met this morning. Here, take this it's your timetable," said Lillie handing over the piece of paper.

"Ooh, is mine in there?" asked Parvati from behind Gillian.

"Just a sec," Lillie shuffled through the papers until she got to Parvati's. "Here you go," she said handing it over.

"Thanks," she said turning to look at her timetable.

Lillie looked down at the five other timetables in her hand, Isa's was on top, and she handed that to her, below that was _Klaas, Henrietta_; Lillie didn't know who Henrietta Klaas was so she decided to call out.

"Henrietta?" she said her voice slightly louder than the chatter around her.

"Yes," a slightly confused sounding voice replied from somewhere to her left. She looked round and saw the pretty blonde girl leaning forward.

"Hi, erm, my name is Lillie, I've just been given a bunch of timetables and I think this one's yours," she said passing it down to her.

"Oh thank you. Call me Etta by the way, I don't really like Henrietta," she replied.

Lillie nodded. Underneath that was below Etta's there was a timetable belonging to someone called _Jones, Jennifer_ who was a slightly chubby girl with golden hair and grey eyes who was sitting on Isa's right. Below that was _Brandon, Samantha_ Lillie passed this left to the only other girl and looked down at her timetable.

_Whitehead, Lillian_

_Ravenclaw_

_First Year_

Below this was her timetable, she looked at the odd names of all the different subjects and counted how many she had of each; five of Transfiguration, Charms and DADA (whatever that was), four of Potions and Herbology; three Muggle Studies and two of Quidditch and Astronomy. She looked down at what she had today; as it turned out she had double Herbology, then Charms and then Transfiguration. After lunch she had double DADA. Today, she started off with double Herbology, and then she had Charms and Transfiguration. After lunch she had double Dada followed by double Potions.

"When are your free periods?" asked Gillian, startling her.

"I've got one on Tuesday morning first period and I've also got, oh wow, Friday periods 5 to 8," Lillie said a little surprised by this.

"I've got Tuesday first as well, but I only have… wait, _what_? You have Friday afternoon off, completely," she exclaimed incredulously snatching Lillie's timetable in disbelief and staring down at it. "You are so lucky!" she cried.

"Can I have it back anytime soon?" Lillie asked, laughing slightly at the look on Gillian's face.

"Hold on, I just want to see what classes we have together… let's see, Transfiguration, erm Muggle Studies, Astronomy and Quidditch. Hey look I also have a free period after lunch on a Friday, not two though," she concluded. "Please will you help me with Muggle Studies, I don't know anything about Muggles," she asked of Lillie handing back the timetable.

"Of course, as long as you help me with everything else in return," replied Lillie. Gillian laughed before turning and talking back to Parvati. Lillie turned to face Isa, but she was talking to Jennifer. So she just put her timetable in her pocket and started eating breakfast again.

A few minutes later the chatter died down as people started leaving the hall and going back to their common rooms and she turned to Gill, who had stopped talking to Parvati, "Do you think we should go back and get our stuff?"

Gillian nodded. Together they got up and left the hall. The other girls noticing this followed in their wakes. "Can anyone remember the way?" asked Etta, from behind them.

Lillie opened her mouth but then closed it, feeling a little stupid. "I can," said a voice from behind Etta, who stepped aside revealing Jennifer. "Follow me," she said and she set off across the entrance hall, Lillie, Gill, Parvati, Isa, Etta and Samantha hurrying after her. They went back up the six staircases, down the two corridors, through the tapestry, down the other corridor and they stopped outside the door, Jennifer knocking twice with the bronze knocker.

"What is the ball that is worth 150 points called?" issued the cool voice.

"Snitch," chorused Jennifer, Gillian, Etta and Samantha.

"Quidditch," Parvati whispered to Lillie who was feeling slightly bemused.

They traipsed into the common room and went up the stairs to their dormitory. Upon entry, they noticed small papers on their bed. Samantha, whose bed was nearest, went forward and picked it up.

"It's a map," she explained, opening up. "Oh look it has my classrooms highlighted, and the common room, and the Great Hall!" she exclaimed.

The other girls pushed forward and picked up their own maps. Lillie glanced at hers and tried to find the Herbology classroom. Eventually she located it, outside in the grounds. "Does anyone else have Herbology?" she asked.

"Yeah," came the replies from Jennifer and Etta.

"Do you know what we need?"

"Yep: 1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi, you know the book and your dragon hide gloves. Oh and your quills and parchment," answered Jennifer.

"Thanks." Lillie began looking for the things that Jennifer had just mentioned. She found the book in one bag containing a few other books as well. The dragon hide gloves were in a bag with a cauldron! She finally found quills, ink and parchment in a bag that also contained a satchel. She pulled out all the items from this bag and placed everything else carefully into her satchel, which she hung over her shoulder.

She turned around and saw the other girls doing similar things. Etta was waiting next to Jennifer and she beckoned Lillie over to join them. When Jennifer had got her stuff together she straightened up and looked at the two of them. Wordlessly, they walked the distance to the Entrance Hall; they slipped out the great oak double doors. Etta pulled the map out of her pocket and quickly found the right place. Still without a word they followed her to a group of greenhouses. Inside one of these they could see a few other first years already inside. They walked towards the entrance to this greenhouse but stopped outside the door.

They looked at each other apprehensively.

"Ready?" asked Lillie nervously, breaking the silence.

"Now or never, isn't it?" replied Etta.

"It's going to be alright," said Jennifer, smiling reassuringly.

Together they pushed the door open and stepped inside.

**Author's note:**

**As usual thanks to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl.**

**I would also like to thank cocogirl198 and .Nicoleta for being my first alerter and favourite.**

**I apologize for any typos.**

**Please review it would really encourage me.**


	6. The First Day part 1

Silver Lining

Chapter 6: The First Day (part 1)

In the greenhouse, everyone was silent, standing around, looking nervous, confused or quietly confident. Lillie, Jennifer and Etta took the three nearest seats and started pulling their things out of their bags. Lillie examined the greenhouse, it was very different to the concrete cubes where she used to have her lessons; it was well lit, with light coming through the wall on her left, there were two rows of seats facing each other and a big table going through the middle. Gradually the room filled up and when all the seats were filled up Lillie counted and discovered that there were twenty people in total.

She looked to her right; a boy she vaguely recognised was sitting there, the badge on his chest showed that he was a Gryffindor. She looked at the person opposite her, she realised it was Victoire and she waved slightly, Victoire saw her and waved back.

"Do you realise how dirty we're going to get during Herbology?" she asked, leaning forward, sounding slightly irritated.

"I don't really know. Is it a bit like gardening?" asked Lillie.

"Yes, just messier, and I forgot my shampoo, this is going to be a nightmare, I'll look horrible," she moaned unhappily.

Lillie was about to say that Victoire that a little dirt in her hair wouldn't matter, but she was interrupted when the backdoor to the greenhouse was opened by a tall man, with brown hair and a kindly face.

"Hello," he said, in a slightly northern accent, "My name's Professor Longbottom, I am the head of Herbology, but you can call me Neville. I'll be your Herbology teacher for the year, and if you're lucky next year as well, if you're not so lucky you'll get one of the other teachers," there was some nervous laughter from a few students. Lillie glanced across at Victoire who was glaring furiously at Neville, as though it was his fault that she might get dirty, which it probably was.

Neville started taking a register and when he got to the boy on her right, she realised why she recognised him, it was Richard Timberlake, Chris' twin brother. After Richard's name was called Neville called out Victoire's who looked like she wanted to say no, but grudgingly she said yes and Neville finished the register with Lillie.

For the first half hour or so of the lesson Neville explained what Herbology really was and what they were going to be studying this term. After that, he told them to open their books to page three and start reading the introduction.

Lillie had always been a quick reader, so she finished the fifteen pages of prologue in as many minutes, the only problem was that she hadn't understood most of it, it mentioned a lot of strange names; people places and plants and a lot of the terminology was completely new to her. So she decided to read it again.

By the time she had finished it the second time round, most other people had finished too and people were beginning to mutter among themselves.

"Right!" called Neville. "It seems that most of you have finished the introduction, so we're going to start on the real stuff now. Get our hands to dirty," he said looking pointedly at Victoire who glared back at him, Lillie started to suspect that they knew each other before this.

"Today," he continued unperturbed, "we're going to start with the basics, just potting and re-potting everyday plants. You'll be working in pairs: you and you, you and you and so on," he said pointing out pairs. "Well, get going!"

A girl on the other side of the table a few places down put up her hand. Neville nodded at her.

"Please, thir," she said with a lisp, "But what plantth are we thuppothed to be potting?"

"Good point," said Neville. He lifted his wand and waved it lazily, muttering something under his breath.

As she watched, ten or so plant pots floated towards them from around the outskirts of the room. One of these landed between herself and Richard, he looked like Chris, but with longer hair and a slightly more rugged face.

"Do you know how to do this?" he asked.

"Erm, I think so. Are you Chris' brother?" she asked, flushing slightly afterwards.

He grinned, "Yeah I am. You're in the same house, aren't you?"

Lillie nodded.

"Good luck with that," he laughed. Lillie smiled.

Their conversation ended with that and they began working on their plant; Lillie showing Richard what to do: dig a little hole around the stalk, which you then hold onto tightly, so it doesn't break, and tug vigorously.

When it came to the vigorous tugging however Lillie found that she couldn't tug vigorously enough. A little embarrassed she turned to Richard who grinned widely and took the stalk from her hand and pulled at it forcefully.

The plant came out of its pot and their arms were both caked in a film of dirt. Richard grabbed the larger pot and placed the plant in it. With instructions from Lillie he picked up the old pot and gradually poured it into the new pot making sure not to damage the plant.

Lillie was distracted by a squealing sound from across the table she looked up and laughed at the sight that met her eyes. It seemed that she wasn't he only one having difficulty with pulling out their plants. The boy that Victoire was partnered with had managed to pull it out, but unfortunately he had also caused most of the earth to fly up and cake both himself and Victoire.

"Gaarrgghh!" exclaimed Victoire. "Honestly, Frank, you are _so __stupid_!" she cried and stormed out of the greenhouse dirty hair flying out behind her. There was a few seconds of silence, and then Lillie started laughing, followed by Richard and then Neville and eventually the whole class was laughing including Frank who turned out to be a Hufflepuff, his last name as Lillie later discovered was duBoyce.

As it was nearly the end of lesson anyway and most people had successfully re-potted their plants Neville let them go, "Oh! I want a summary on how to re-pot plants for next lesson!" he called to them as they were leaving. There was a communal groan, but they all left the classroom happily anyway.

Lillie caught up with Etta and Jennifer as they reached the Entrance Hall. Etta who saw her coming asked, "Do you know who that girl was?"

"Yeah. Her name's Victoire Weasley, I met her on the train. She's actually really fun, just a bit self-obsessed," replied Lillie.

"Yeah, just a bit," said Jennifer sarcastically and they chuckled a little.

They walked back to the common room chatting amiably about trivial matters; like clothes, weather and how long they thought the summary would have to be.

The door to the common room opened just as they reached it, they got out of the way as a sixth year walked past them. They entered the common room and Etta and Jennifer headed straight for the stairs, but Lillie, spotting a familiar face, lingered in the common room for a bit.

Teddy spotted her and waved, beckoning her over with his other hand. "I knew you'd be a Ravenclaw," he said, victoriously as she reached him. "How were your first lessons at Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Quite fun, actually, I had Herbology with Nev- I mean, Professor Longbottom, and it was quite a lot of fun. I don't think Victoire enjoyed it so much though," Lillie told him.

Teddy laughed and then glanced down at his watch and jumped up in alarm, "I have to go! But tell m more about this later, Victoire and Herbology are things that should never mix." With that he sprinted over to the stairs and dashed up them three at a time.

Lillie followed him, slightly less rapidly. On the stairs she bumped into Chris, who was with a few other Ravenclaw boys that she didn't know. He smiled at her and she smiled back. "What lessons do you have now?" he asked.

Lillie thought back to her timetable and recited, "Charms and Transfiguration."

"Me too," he said, "We'll wait for you," he said.

She dashed up the stairs as Teddy had done, but her shorter legs meant that she could only go two at a time. She reached the dormitory and jogged across it. She took the Herbology book and gloves and replaced them with her Charms and Transfiguration textbooks. Then she dashed back across the room and back down the stairs.

When she reached them she was a little out of breath, but she hadn't wanted them to wait. Chris greeted her brightly and together with three other boys they made their way towards the Charms classroom.

On their trip Chris introduced her to the others: there was a pair of Scottish twins with flaming red hair who were identical called Alex and Alan McDougal; who were very noisy and laughed a lot as well as someone called Tarquin Salford; he was slightly uppity but he seemed nice enough.

"How many of you are there in your dorm?" asked Lillie.

"Fourteen," chorused Alex and Alan, who had an irritating habit of speaking simultaneously.

"Fourteen!" exclaimed Lillie. That must be a big dorm, she thought.

For the rest of the journey, the boys talked among themselves but Lillie wasn't really listening, because they seemed to be talking about Quidditch, something which she knew nothing about and she didn't ask because she didn't want to be embarrassed.

When they reached the classroom, there was already a short queue outside the door, which they attached themselves too. A few minutes later, a young man walked down the corridor and stopped outside the classroom letting them all in.

"Wait!" he called to them in a French accent and they all stopped in their tracks to face him. "You will be sitting in alphabetical order, so just wait a moment and I'll tell you where you go. So… Here, we have Mindy Bamforth and Katy Carroll," he said indicating the first bench and two big Slytherin girls moved forward to sit at them.

He carried on in similar vain around all ten benches, Luckily for him the McDougal twins ended up as far away from each other as possible, Alan on the far right of the second row of benches and Alex on the far left of the third row. Lillie ended up next to Chris at a bench in a third row behind everyone else.

"Right, so," the French man carried on, "My name is Professor Lugitte, I am from Beaux Batons and I am come to replace Professor Cardriggy who is unfortunately ill. Do you all have your books?" he asked. There was a faint murmur of assent and he instructed them, as Neville had done, to read the introduction.

Once again Lillie finished before most other people, but this time she had read more slowly in an attempt to understand a little more than she had in Herbology, and she found she understood a surprising amount.

Five minutes later Professor Lugitte called the class to attention. "Ok, so, the first spell we are going to learn will be the levitation spell; here let me show you how it's done." He pulled his wand from the back pocket of his robes and pointed at the quill on the desk in front of him.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he called waving his wand in a simple swish and flick; to Lillie's amazement the quill jumped a few inches into the air. Then he flicked his wand and it soared across the room hitting a dartboard at the back of the classroom in the bull's-eye.

There was an excited murmur from the students who, for the most part, seemed impressed. Chris leaned over to Lillie, "I really want to be able to do that!" he whispered excitedly.

"Me too," muttered Lillie.

Unfortunately, there were only twenty minutes left in the lesson, and Professor Lugitte said that that wasn't nearly enough time to master the spell and that he doubted any of them would get it before the end of the week.

Instead, he made each one of them come up to the front of the class and attempt the correct wand movement. If you did it correctly he would give you two house points. The only people who did it correctly were Katy Carroll, a Gryffindor called Luciana Finnegan, the McDougal twins and herself.

After that the lesson was almost over. "Homework!" called Professor Lugitte as they started packing up their stuff. "Read the prologue again but this time take notes." That shouldn't be too hard thought Lillie, as she and Chris packed up their stuff and left for Transfiguration.

"What do you think of Lugitte?" asked Chris as they walked the short distance to the Transfiguration classroom.

"Professor Lugitte," corrected Lillie automatically making Chris raise his eyebrows slightly, "Sorry. Bad habit. I personally think he's quite nice," she said.

"You're only saying that because he gave you house points," retorted Chris.

Lillie grinned a little, that was partially true, but she wasn't going to admit that.

"The homework he set us is going to be impossible; I have no idea what that introduction was saying!" he complained a few minutes later.

"I actually understood quite a bit of it," said Lillie, feeling slightly smug.

"You did? You have to help me with it then," he said.

"Hi, Lil!" came a familiar voice from behind her. She wheeled around and saw Parvati running to catch up with them.

"Whoa, Parvati, what's up?" Lillie asked, shocked a little at the sight in front of her.

"I brought the wrong books, and I just had DADA on the first floor so I had to run all the way to the common room and then all the way back down. It's so far away!" she explained, panting and leaning on Chris' shoulder.

"Chris this is Parvati, Parvati, Chris," introduced Lillie, laughing slightly at the look on his face.

"Err. Nice to meet you?" said Chris, although it sounded more like a question.

Parvati nodded in return too tired to say anything.

"OK, let's go," said Lillie, dragging the pair forward.

Outside their Transfiguration classroom their was another queue, the three of them joined it, Parvati still leaning on Chris' shoulder; by this point Chris was bright red and Lillie was trying to suppress her laughter.

The door swung open to reveal a tall, thin man, the chatting in the hall died down as the pupils noticed the open door.

The man's eyes looked down to where Parvati was leaning on Chris. "Stand up straight," he said; his voice terrifyingly cold. Parvati did as he said without a word standing up stiff as a poker. "Entre," he said in that same tone of voice. Lillie started thinking that she wasn't going to enjoy this class as much as the other classes.

The students filed silently into the classroom and stood behind the two rows of desks, Lillie found herself between Chris and to her surprise Richard, who she hadn't noticed out in the corridor.

"Sit," hissed the man. All the students sat down in one fell swoop and a smile graced the man's face. The smile, however, did nothing to endear him, if anything it made him look even more terrifying.

"My name is Professor Selwyn and I expect you to address me as such and then only when I give you permission to speak. Is that understood?" The class remained silent. "I said 'Is that _understood_?'!" he cried, and the whole class jumped.

"Yes, Sir," they chorused.

"Good."

Lillie was the only person in the whole classroom not to have spoken; she had been too shocked by the name of her Professor to do anything. She sat rigidly on her seat looking straight ahead. Chris glanced at her slightly concerned.

"Now," he set walking around the class looking down at his register. "Who do we have here?" he looked down the register, as he reached the end, a malicious smile spread across his lips, making Lillie blanch. "Let's see… Whitehead!" he called.

"Y-yes, Sir?" Lillie stammered.

"Tell me, Miss Whitehead, what are the three different types of Transfiguration?" he asked.

Lillie had no idea, "Erm, I, err, I don't know, Sir," she said still rigid.

"Tut-tut, not good enough. Five points from Ravenclaw," he said, Lillie thought of the injustice of this, but didn't say a word. "All of you take out your books!" he barked, causing everyone's hearts to skip a beat. They all complied and there were a few soft thumps as books were set down on tables.

"Read up to the end of chapter two, and take notes. You won't finish it this lesson so you have till Wednesday to do it."

The rest of the lesson was spent in silence and all the pupils had their heads down. The first thing Lillie had to do, though, was get used to writing with a quill, which, luckily for her, only took about three minutes.

About ten minutes before the end of the lesson the voice of Professor Selwyn sounded from right behind her making her gasp in shock, "I want you to know the three types of Transfiguration for next lesson or it's detention for you, you filthy little mudblood," he whispered. Lillie did not react but just kept reading and writing, but she saw both Richard and Chris tense at the term mudblood.

Lillie did not move from her position for the rest of the lesson and only relaxed when she had left the classroom ten minutes later.

She started walking towards the Great Hall when Parvati, Chris and Richard caught up with her. Parvati was the first to speak, "He was so _creepy_," she said, relief plain in her voice.

Richard and Chris looked murderous, "He called you _mudblood_," whispered Richard angrily.

"He didn't?" exclaimed Parvati.

"Oh yes he did," replied Chris his jaw clenched, "I won't let him touch you, don't you worry Lillie," he carried on.

"What does mudblood actually mean?" asked Lillie slightly curious at all this anger.

"It's basically a really horrible thing to call someone whose parents are muggles," explained Parvati.

Lillie nodded. She was glad that was over, even though it hadn't been very pleasant, she felt touched by Chris and Richard's reactions. They had known each other for less than a day but they were already promising to look after. She might live with an evil great-aunt, but it was a lovely house, her family may have died but she had magic, she might have a horrible Transfiguration teacher but she had friends who would look after her; every cloud has a silver lining.

A strange feeling of happiness partially filled the hole that had been growing inside of her since her parents and brother had died. Together, the four of them walked into the Great Hall.

* * *

><p>They sat down, about halfway along the Ravenclaw table. Lillie had just started eating when Teddy plonked down on the bench beside her.<p>

"So," he said, grinning, "tell me what happened to Victoire in Herbology.

Lillie recounted the story of the Herbology lesson which seemed so far away now, and Teddy laughed hysterically along with Richard and Lillie.

"Excuse me, I need to go and find Victoire," he said and jumped off the bench and moved over to the Gryffindor table. The mood was now much lighter and they began chatting about homework and homes and other unimportant things. Lillie's mind started to wander to Teddy; he was an orphan too, and look how happy he was. She smiled and thought: I can be happy too. Every cloud has a silver lining, no matter how thin.

**Author's note:**

**Thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker, I really recommend you read their stuff.**

**I apologise for any typos.**

**Please review it would make me so happy.**


	7. The First Day part 2

Silver Lining

Chapter 6.5: The First Day (part 2)

The first thing she had after lunch was double DADA. She still didn't know what that stood for. She remembered that Gill was in this class too and she waited for her as she got her stuff ready.

"What does DADA stand for?" asked Lillie as they left the common room.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's Defence Against the Dark Arts," she replied. "Parvati told me about what happened in Transfiguration…" she began slightly sheepishly before trailing off.

"I'm fine," Lillie smiled genuinely, sensing what Gill wanted to say. "I didn't even know what mud- what _it_ meant, so I was actually less shocked than Parvati and the twins: Chris and Richard," Lillie said, she laughed slightly awkwardly, but the concerned look on Gill's face lifted and she began talking about Professor Flitwick, who she had for Charms.

She had just finished emphasizing just how small he was, when a voice from behind them made them jump slightly.

"Miss Whitehead, just the person I was looking for," hissed the voice coolly. Lillie froze: this was Professor Selwyn's voice.

Clearing her face of any expression she turned slowly to face him. "Go!" he suddenly barked at Gill, who turned and half-ran down the corridor looking guiltily back at Lillie when she reached the end. He turned back to face Lillie, "A message, from Mme Selwyn," he said. That must be Dulcia, thought Lillie. "She says that you are not to write to her at any point and to stay at school during the winter and Easter holidays. She also says that if you _somehow_ manage to convince someone, you should stay away for the summer holidays as well. Poor woman, it must be hard having to look after useless filth like you."

He turned on his heel and walked back down the corridor. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Lillie relaxed, but only briefly; she jogged down the corridor and turned right at the next one. She didn't know whether or not she was late for DADA but didn't want to put a toe out of line after her 'chat' with Professor Selwyn.

Luckily when she got there she found the class still waiting outside the door. Gill spotted her and worked her way towards her. "I'm so sorry!" she said when she reached her. "I didn't want to leave you with him but he was just so creepy I didn't want to stay anywhere near him."

Lillie opened her mouth to reply when a familiar voice from behind her interrupted her, "Lillie Whitehead." She whirled around to find Chris standing there a grin spread across his face.

"Hello again," she smiled.

"Can't keep away from me can you," he replied.

Lillie blushed and turned away from him to look at Gillian again. "This," she said, "is Chris. He's one of those twins I told you about."

Gillian nodded glancing at Chris who waved back.

"What time is it?" asked Lillie, randomly.

"Five past," replied Gill.

"Shouldn't the guy be here by now?" asked Chris.

Lillie and Gillian nodded. They looked around; it seemed that they weren't the only ones who had noticed. "Do you think we could just go?" asked someone from the crowd.

"Better not," someone else said and the whole group lapsed into silence.

Fifteen minutes later, they were still waiting outside the classroom. By now most of the pupils were sitting on the floor leaning against the walls. "Oh come _on_!" cried a different voice.

Lillie looked around for the source of the voice and saw Victoire sitting down a few feet away. She got up and walked over to her. "Hi," said Victoire slightly sullenly as Lillie sat down next to her.

"Hi," Lillie said, with similar enthusiasm. "Looks like you got the dirt out at least," as she said this, a small grin spreading across Lillie's face.

Victoire send Lillie an evil look, "That. Wasn't. _Funny._" She said through gritted teeth. Lillie tried to hide her growing smile but wasn't able to do so very well.

Victoire turned to face her seriously, "At lunch today one of the boys said something about a teacher calling you a mudblood. Is that true?" Lillie nodded. "You have to tell someone!" whispered Victoire, shocked.

"That wouldn't help," Victoire opened her mouth to protest but Lillie interrupted her, "Trust me," said Lillie forcefully.

"Fine!" Victoire got up and flounced over to sit with a group of whispering Gryffindors. Lillie also got up and went back over to rejoin Gill and Chris, who stopped talking as she approached.

"Subtle guys," she said sitting down next to Chris who looked meaningfully at her.

"Gillian just told me that you were cornered by Professor Selwyn before the lesson," he said, concern etched across his face. "Is that true? More importantly are you alright, what happened?" he asked his voice becoming a little too loud for Lillie's taste.

"Yeah it's true, but come down, please, I'm fine. He just passed on a message from my _dear_ great-aunt Dulcia," she reassured him.

"Which was…?" Gill encouraged from Chris' other side.

"None of your business," retorted Lillie.

"Please," whined Gill.

"Fine! She told me not to come home for the holidays," said Lillie, "and not to write either; I hadn't planned on writing anyway," she finished. "What time is it now?" she asked again.

"Half past," replied Gill.

"Where the hell is the teacher?" asked Chris angrily.

As though answering his question, the stern-looking woman that Lillie had assumed was the Headmistress came round the corner. At the sight of them, she halted.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Waiting for our teacher," said someone Lillie didn't know.

"Is this, by any chance Defence Against the Dark Arts?" asked the woman again.

There was a murmur of assent from the little group gathered there. The woman rolled her eyes and opened the door, "Mundungus!" she called.

There was a groan from inside and they heard a man's voice reply, "Alright, Minerva? What can I do for you?"

"Teach the class that has been waiting outside for half an hour!" she cried exasperatedly,

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. Come in you lot," he called to the people outside. They stepped aside as the stern woman left, sighing as she went and then they traipsed in. "Alright," he said, "my name is Professor Fletcher and I will be your teacher this year. Now sit yourselves down in alphabetical order."

Lillie, Chris and Victoire headed straight for the back of the room and a couple of others headed straight for the front. Everyone else bustled around asking surnames and it was another five minutes later that they were all finally seated.

They turned their attention back to Professor Fletcher only to find that he had once again fallen asleep. Victoire laughed, she turned to face Lillie and said, "I know Dung- I mean Professor Fletcher from before, he's quite good friends with my uncles Fred and George, this is so typical."

A girl in the front row who Lillie vaguely recognised as Samantha Brandon spoke tentatively, "Sir? ... Sir? … Professor Fletcher!" she called her voice rising.

"That's now how you do it," said Victoire standing up. "Watch and learn, people. Oi, DUNG!" she yelled.

Professor Fletcher started awake again and looked around at the class. "Blimey!" he exclaimed. "Vicky was that you?" he asked, noticing Victoire standing up. Victoire nodded before grinning widely and sitting back down.

Professor Fletcher stood up and stretched. He turned around to face the board and, with a wave of his wand, it was covered in an untidy scrawl. "Do that," he ordered turning back to them. He then sat back down and promptly fell asleep again.

Lillie, half amused half bemused looked at the board.

_1. Turn to page 12 in your books and read about the pushing curse aka Cogo Cadare._

_2. Practise spell on feathers at the back of the room._

_3. When you succeed, you can go._

_4. Don't wake me up._

_5. Homework is to read the intro of your books (which we should have done at the beginning of the lesson)._

Lillie chuckled slightly at instruction number four, before turning to page twelve of her book. The reading took a surprisingly long time and by the time Lillie finished there were only forty five minutes left. She went to the back of the room and picked up three feathers, handing one to Chris and Victoire.

"Okay," she whispered excitedly to herself, I can do this. Cogo Cadare!" Nothing happened. She looked back at her book for inspiration. Finding none, she turned back to the feather. "Cogo Cadare!" she tried again. Nothing happened. She tried again, and again, and again. Still, nothing happened. No one else in the classroom seemed to be having much luck either.

"Yes!" exclaimed Chris triumphantly. Lillie looked to where he was sitting and saw that the feather in front of him had now fallen to the floor. He started to pack up his things.

"Okay, come on Lillie you can do this. Cogo Cadare," she said calmly. To her amazement, the feather in front of her was propelled backwards off the desk. She packed up her stuff and ran to catch up with Chris in the corridor outside.

"Hey, you look excited," he said when he spotted her.

"I did magic!" she cried. "I actually did magic, proper magic! That was awesome," she continued excitedly.

"Well done you," he said, laughing. "And guess what… me too." Lillie grinned.

"What is Quidditch? I mean, how do you play? What are the rules?" Lillie asked as they reached the great marble staircase.

The look of shock on Chris' face made Lillie double up with laughter. When she stopped he immediately started speaking. He told Lillie all about everything that there was to do with Quidditch. By the time they reached the common room he still hadn't finished and he only stopped talking when Lillie out her hands over his mouth.

She realised that she had forty minutes or so to kill before her next lesson, so she decided to get started on some of her homework.

* * *

><p>The potions lesson was the most exciting of the day. Their teacher, a woman called Madam Carlotta, did not start the lesson by asking them to read the introduction to their books. Instead, she told them to get into groups of three. Lillie went with Parvati and Isa. She then wrote some instructions on the board and told them to get going.<p>

"Mme Carlotta?" asked a boy that Lillie vaguely recognised as Frank duBoyce, the boy from Herbology, "Where do we get the ingredients?" Mme Carlotta pointed to one of the cupboards close to Lillie.

"Spot-clearing potion, that sounds useful, I wonder if she'll let us take some," said Parvati.

"Well, we have to start first," said Isa.

Lillie went over to the cupboard and opened it. Inside were hundreds of boxes of varying sizes, all with different labels. Some of the labels such as _Pickled Rats Brain _disgusted Lillie but luckily she didn't have to use that today. She checked the board again. She only needed six or seven ingredients as far as she could tell. She rummaged around in the cupboard for them and pulled four boxes off the shelves.

When she returned to the bench, Parvati looked down at the things she was holding and went off to get the rest. Isa was trying to light a fire under the cauldron that they were using and by the time Parvati got back there was a small blaze underneath it.

The rest of the lesson was spent weighing, measuring, cutting, adding, stirring, waiting and Mme Carlotta rushing around preventing students from doing anything foolish. When they had finished Mme Carlotta told each group to fill up a labelled flask with their potion.

When Isa handed theirs in, Mme Carlotta nodded approvingly. Lillie left the room feeling quite pleased with herself for having done it right, and headed up out of the dungeons and into the Great Hall for tea.

During tea, Lillie didn't talk very much. She was thinking about Professor Selwyn. She watched him from her seat, his bald head gleaming slightly in the light. She looked up at the ceiling and gasped, for it was exactly like the sky outside.

She looked around the room and spotted Teddy walking towards her from the Gryffindor table, as she watched him his turned a fiery red as he approached, causing Lillie quite a shock.

He had a serious look on his face. Lillie recognised that look, it was the same one Chris, Richard and Parvati had had after Transfiguration. It was the same look Gill had had on the way to DADA. It was the same look Victoire had outside the classroom. It was a look she wanted to avoid.

She got up from her seat saying a hurried goodbye to Parvati and Isa, grabbed her bag and made a beeline straight for the double doors. She passed through them and ran across the Entrance Hall and up the stairs till she reached the sixth floor. Panting slightly, she jogged down the corridors and through the tapestry. When she reached the door she knocked twice, breathing heavily.

"Who was headmaster of Hogwarts at the time of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's death?"

Lillie swore and looked around hoping that she might be able to ask a portrait for help. It was too late Teddy came through the tapestry at the end of the corridor. She had already had this conversation three times today, and for some reason she desperately wanted to avoid it with Teddy.

Teddy watched Lillie as he came up to the door but he didn't say anything to her. The door repeated the question and, still looking at Lillie Teddy replied, "Severus Snape." The door swung open and revealed an empty common room. "Sit down," Teddy ordered. Lillie did so, she had never seen Teddy look like this and she was feeling slightly scared.

"Teddy, I'm fine honestly-," she began but Teddy cut her off.

"Don't lie. If you're fine, why did you run away from me? Lillie this is serious!"

"I don't want to make a big deal out of it," Lillie mumbled back.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Lillie, this _is _a big deal, for God's sake!" he cried angrily, almost shouting.

Lillie was getting angry herself now and she faced him properly for the first time, standing up as she did so. "Do you want to know why I won't make a big deal out of this? _DO_ you?" she whispered dangerously.

"Yes, I do," he replied, just as venomously.

"I'm scared, Ted. I am terrified about what might happen to me if I do. If he gets fired because of me, when I have to go back to the Selwyn's he _will_ be waiting for me. And I don't know what he and my dear old aunt Dulcia will do to me. If I wanted to get angry with him and complain, believe me I could. I could get very, very angry. But I won't, because I'm scared of the consequences. Have you thought about that, Teddy? Have you?"

Teddy took a step back startled by this sudden outburst; he had turned this small calm girl in front of him into something he didn't like. "I'm sorry, Lillie," he said earnestly. "I'm just worried about you. You've had a really tough time recently and I understand why you would be angry with me. I just couldn't see it the way you described it. I could only think about what happened, and I'm sorry."

He looked at Lillie and saw that she was crying slightly. He took a step forward and wiped the tear off her cheek with his thumb before pulling her into his arms. They stayed like that for about twenty seconds. Then Lillie pulled away and crossed over to the stairs leaving Teddy alone in the common room

* * *

><p><strong>Chris' POV:<strong>

Chris watched as Lillie got up out of her seat and hurried across the dining room. She looked troubled. He stood up and moved to follow her. When he reached the double doors a boy with fiery red hair barged passed him almost knocking him over. Before Chris had the chance to say anything, however, the boy had slipped through a tapestry.

Chris was too worried about Lillie to follow him. Instead he climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor. Earlier that day he had discovered a shortcut which he hoped to use again now. He opened a door but instead of finding the thin wooden staircase he had expected, he found a huge room filled with staircases. He was about halfway up and decided to do the rest of the upward journey here instead of going back the way he had come.

He got onto the staircase and was about halfway up when the whole thing juddered. He grabbed the sides in shock as the whole thing moved slowly away from the door he had come out of. It moved across the room and then down a bit, finally stopping between two different doors. Chris rushed to the one at the top of the stairs and quickly went through it.

He found himself in an area of the castle he had never been in before, not surprising seeing as it was only his first day. He guessed that he was on the third floor so he wanted to go up three more. He moved around quickly opening doors and looking behind tapestries and suits of armour in the hope that he would find some stairs.

He was about to push open another door when he recognised a voice from behind it. It was Professor Selwyn talking to what seemed to be an old woman. Chris pressed his ear to the door.

"I couldn't do that!" said Professor Selwyn.

"You have to. Otherwise goodness knows what she might do. She doesn't know it yet, only I do for I can see as no one else can, but she is the only one that could stop us," said the other voice.

"I will think about it. I have to go now," answered Professor Selwyn.

Chris had enough time to propel himself a few metres away from the door and he pretended to be lost.

"What are you doing here, boy?" asked Professor Selwyn suspiciously.

"I'm lost, Sir. I went up some stairs and when I was halfway up they moved, and they took me here. Could you tell me which way it is to the Ravenclaw common room?" Chris babbled.

Selwyn pointed and Chris darted off in the direction that he had pointed thinking hard about what he had overheard. Could they have been talking about Lillie? What was she going to stop? What was he going to do to her? He knew that he would have to keep an eye out for her. But he wouldn't tell her anything because he didn't want to make her panic unnecessarily.

**Author's note:**

**Thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker.**

**Also thanks to all those awesome people who favorited and alerted me, you guys are awesome, but could you ****please** **review it would help me so much.**

**I apologise for any typos or other mistakes.**

**Please review and favorite/alert. All reviews are good whether they are criticisms or nicer things.**


	8. Orphan's Hollow

Silver Lining

Chapter 7: Orphans' Hollow

The next few days seemed to blur into one and she found herself walking out of lunch on Friday only to realise that she had no more lessons for the week. She decided to go change out of her Quidditch robes before she did anything else.

Quidditch had been the lesson she was most worried about, but it actually went quite well. They spent the first ten minutes trying to call their brooms up off the floor. Some people like Chris and Richard, manages straight away, whereas others still hadn't managed after ten minutes. Only then did they go down to the enormous Quidditch pitch. Here they were split into three groups, beginners, intermediate and advanced. Lillie had been a beginner and they spent most of the lesson taking off and landing. At the very end they were allowed to fly around the pitch, which Lillie found terrifying but thrilling nonetheless.

It turned out that Chris was in every single one of her lessons, and because of their proximity in the alphabet, they often ended up paired together, except in Herbology where Lillie was between Etta and Richard.

She hadn't spoken to Teddy since their argument on Monday evening and she was feeling guilty about overreacting. She hoped that she would be able to find him at some point during her free periods. So, after she had showered and changed she headed into the common room to do her Muggle Studies homework with Chris and Gill. It wasn't very hard: just basic questions, but nevertheless, they bombarded her with questions.

Luckily, twenty minutes later, Teddy came walking down the stairs from the dormitories, Lillie noticed that his hair was back to its normal golden colour. His eyes swept the common room and when he spotted Lillie, he headed straight for the door.

"I'll be back in a sec," Lillie said to Chris and Gill before following Teddy out the door.

When she reached it, Teddy was halfway down the corridor. "Ted, wait! Lillie called after him. He stopped but did not turn round. Lillie ran to catch up with him. "I'm sorry, Ted," she said when she reached him. "I know you just wanted to help, I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you."

"No," he said, "You shouldn't." Lillie took a step back at the tone of his voice; it was low and scathing. She opened her mouth to reply when he spun around to face her. "But then again, I suppose you must have been sick of everyone asking you about it not to mention you were scared." The look on his face changed from distant to friendly, and a small smile spread across his face. "Come with me, there's something I want to show you."

"I need to tell the others…" Lillie began, but Teddy didn't stop. She caught up with him and asked, "Where are you taking me?" Teddy still didn't say anything but his smile grew fractionally wider.

They went through the tapestry of the eagle and swan and turned down the corridor, in the opposite direction to the stairs to the Great Hall. When they reached the end of the corridor, Teddy stopped in front of a painting of a scared looking baby elephant. They stood there for a minute and then the elephant trumpeted dolefully causing Lillie a slight shock. Then Teddy reached around to the side of the frame and pulled.

The portrait swung away to reveal a tunnel. Teddy stepped inside and beckoned for Lillie to follow him. She stepped in beside him and the painting swung closed behind her. She felt for Teddy in the dark and when she found him she held onto his arm.

"Lumos," whispered Teddy and the tunnel filled with light issuing from Teddy's wand. Relaxing slightly, Lillie let go of Teddy and they began to move forward.

The tunnel was short, and after a few minutes they reached a wall. Teddy moved to one side and gestured for Lillie to push on the wall. When she did, it swung away to reveal a beautiful place that couldn't possibly be inside the castle. Lillie took a few tentative steps forward.

They were in a valley with a river snaking down it, the sun was high in the sky and there was a crashing noise from behind them. Lillie turned around and saw that they were at the bottom of a fifteen metre waterfall. She turned to face Teddy who was leaning on the edge of the door, which was set in the middle of a large wall.

He grinned, stepping forward to join her. "Welcome to Orphans' Hollow," he said. "I found this place in my third week here. I spoke to Professor Flitwick about it and he told me about it. It was created by Helga Hufflepuff as a secret place where she could go to mourn the death of her mother and father. I come here whenever I feel particularly stressed or upset."

"It's _beautiful_," breathed Lillie, awestruck. "Does anyone else know about it?"

"According to Professor Flitwick, only people whose parents died before they became adults can find it. I've only met one other person here, a Hufflepuff two years above me called Julius Hendon," Teddy replied.

"It's huge; surely it can't be in the castle. How far does it go on for?" Teddy shrugged and started making his was over to the waterfall. He sat down on a rock nearer to the waterfall and lay back, stretching out in the sunlight.

Lillie looked around once more, she was she she'd been there before, but she couldn't put her finger on when or where. She sat down on a rock a few feet away and tried to think what was so familiar. She kept thinking of a blond Labrador dog swimming in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, but not any dog, hers; her dog swam here, before he died. She got up and moved towards the cascading water and, sure enough, there was a little alcove behind the waterfall which could only be reached from a thin path along the cliff. She looked across the river and on the other side; there was the cave where they would have lunch if the weather was too hot.

"I know this place," said Lillie, causing Teddy to sit up and look at her questioningly. "It's in France, about an hour's drive from my house. It's called 'La Cascade de la Lamenteuse', it means the waterfall of the woman in mourning. We come here every summer… we used to come here every summer," Lillie corrected herself.

"That's interesting. I suppose the 'woman in mourning' must have been Hufflepuff."

"I need to go back," said Lillie suddenly, "I promised the others that I wouldn't be away for long, but thank you so much for this." Lillie returned to the door in the rock which was still ajar and passed through it. When she got back to the common room she realised she must have been gone for half an hour at least.

"I'm sorry that I've been away so long, guys," she said when she reached Chris and Gillian.

"What are you talking about, you've only been gone for five minutes," said Gill. "But more importantly, what do you use mobile phones for?"

"Communication," answered Lillie, slightly confused at this revelation. She had been sure she was gone longer than five minutes.

…

Half an hour later, some sixth years marched into the common and kicked the three of them out of their chairs and started playing a very loud and irritating game. They decided to head upstairs to the girls' dormitory. Chris was very hesitant about going in, but as it turned out, he couldn't go in anyway; whenever he opened the door a wall would slide down in front of him. So, instead, they went into the boys' one.

The boys' dormitory was much bigger than the girls' one, with twice as many beds and it was also much more messy. It also smelled slightly funny. Chris walked over to his bed and plonked down on it and Lillie and Gillian picked their way towards it too.

"What did you say a calculator did again?" asked Chris.

"For goodness sake, how many questions are there?" Lillie retorted.

"Last one," he said hopefully.

"A calculator does maths, it works things out that you can't do in your head," said Lillie exasperatedly. Then, she left the room to go get her Charms book.

"What have you got that for?" asked Chris when she returned. "Lugitte didn't give us anything, did he?"

"No, he didn't. I just really want to get the hang of the levitation spell," replied Lillie, pulling out her wand and pointing it at Chris' quill.

"Well, I'm out of here," said Gill. "I've got a Transfiguration essay to finish and your frustration probably won't help," she said, grinning cheekily.

"Hey!" said Lillie indignantly. She turned back to Chris' quill and pointed her wand at it. Furrowing her brow, she raised her arm and moved it in the well-practiced swish and flick movement whilst calling, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Nothing happened. Chris sniggered, but stopped when Lillie elbowed him in the side. She tried again. Once again nothing happened.

"Okay… Okay I can do this. Wingardium Leviosa!" she cried. The quill in front of her trembled, and began to move upwards, until it was hovering a foot over the bed.

"Congrat-" Chris began but was shushed by Lillie. She did not want her concentration interrupted.

She tried, to move the quill, but realised that she didn't know how. She didn't want to look at the book to find out either; she did not want to tear her eyes away from the hovering quill in front of her.

She did not know how long she had been sitting there for when she felt the slight pressure of Chris' hand on her arm. He gently pushed it back down and as it dropped, so did the quill. Lillie turned to face him; she was going to express her pride and joy but was silenced by the look on Chris' face: it was thoughtful and anxious.

"Are you alright?" asked Lillie gently.

Chris seemed to come out of his reverie; he shook his head and the look of anxiety was replaced by a grin. "Yeah, just thinking. Well done, that was very impressive. You're good at Charms," he said.

"Thanks," Lillie smiled. "I was so worried before I came here that everyone else was going to be so much better than me, but it turns out I'm not too far behind. I really am a witch." Lillie said. It was true she had been terrified. She hadn't really spoken about this with anyone before but she was glad that she had.

She heard Chris say something back, but she wasn't listening, she was thinking about Orphan's Hollow, she wanted to go back but for some reason thought that she shouldn't. There was something holding her back, some strange feeling, as though the place should only be used if it was really needed.

She got up and headed towards the door. Chris called after her and she said something about going to the library. Once she was out of the room, she thought she might as well go to the library and find a book, after all she needed something to read in her spare time and the book might also help her get along in the wizarding world of Hogwarts.

**Author's note:**

**The usual thanks to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl, who still hasn't updated Crossroads.**

**Thanks to all my readers for reading and hopefully reviewing.**

**Sorry for any typos and mistakes.**

**I know this is a short chapter, but I haven't had a lot of time this week but next week I have a half-term holiday, so I will update as much as I can.**

**Please review this time, please! It would bring tears of joy to my eyes.**


	9. Shopping, Wolves and Parting Dances

Silver Lining

Chapter 8: Shopping, Wolves and Parting Dances

Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months as the seasons shifted. In October Lillie would awake to see the ground covered in frost and by November the frost had turned into snow and the Black Lake had frozen over and some people could occasionally be seen ice skating.

Lillie woke up that morning later than she normally would have; it was Tuesday which meant that she had a free period first thing. The dorm was empty and she got up and got ready quickly. She walked down into the common room and her attention was caught by the other girls clamouring around a sign on the notice board. She continued walking towards the door, however, because she wanted to have some sort of breakfast.

When she got back to the common room a little later, she went over to the notice board and identified almost immediately the sign that the others had been so interested in. There was a large pin-up poster that jumped out of the rest. It advertised a first year ball on Saturday evening, which was the penultimate day before the holidays. Lillie then came to the really exciting part: this Wednesday and Saturday they were being allowed into Hogsmead, the magical town outside Hogwarts in order to go shopping.

Lillie wasn't the kind of girl who lived for shopping, but she did enjoy it. She could already imagine Gillian and Parvati picking out outfits for everyone. Although Lillie was looking forward to going into Hogsmead, she was worried about her money situation, in other words she had none. She hoped that someone would let her borrow some.

Wednesday came around and as Lillie had predicted she would, Gillian grabbed her after lunch and pulled her out if the common room and out of the castle and then along the road to Hogsmead. She had also dragged Isa along and Parvati would be joining them later.

"Well," said Gill gleefully, "I reckon that today we should get the dresses and on Saturday we can buy accessories that go with them. Lillie, you seem like someone who would look good in…" Lillie stopped listening as Gill spoke about who should wear what.

Roughly 15 minutes later they were walking through the door of a shop that Lillie didn't know but was told by Gill was the best you could find in a place like Hogsmead.

Lillie watched Gill dash around the place, Isa went slightly mad too while Lillie looked around more calmly, inspecting the price of every dress first; Parvati had agreed to pay so Lillie didn't want to buy something horrendously expensive.

She ended up picking out five: the first one was removed her hands by Gillian who said it was "_unimaginably _dull." The other four were deemed acceptable but when Lillie came out of the changing room Gillian and Parvati, who had turned up after ten minutes, both shouted at her to get rid of it.

So Lillie went back to looking. She took out another two dresses and went into the changing room before Gill and Parvati could get to her. The first one was sleeveless and went down to her knees, it was a faded red colour and Lillie reckoned it was the best one she had tried so far.

The second one, however, was beautiful: it was also sleeveless but it almost reached the floor. It was a silvery-blue colour and it shimmered when she moved so that flashes of other colours could be soon too. It had a midnight blue sash around the waist, there were blue and silver sequins spiralling down below that and the hem was also midnight blue.

She took it off before going back outside. Parvati protested when Lillie wouldn't let her see it but gave in eventually and paid for it. Lillie headed back up towards the castle alone; Isa had left a quarter of an hour ago and Gill and Parvati stayed behind because they hadn't yet decided.

When she reached the double doors to the castle, Lillie heard something move behind her. Looking around, Lillie noticed something dark galloping towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. But when she looked back, it had gone. She turned back towards the castle oblivious to the deadly dark eyes following her from the Forest.

Saturday arrived, cold and snowy and Lillie woke up to the squeals of excited girls. She looked up groggily, and spotted the source of the noise: Gill. "Happy birthday, babe!" she exclaimed throwing her arms around Parvati. Lillie got up and went over to the pair; all the other girls were awake now as well.

"Happy birthday Parvati," said Lillie, slightly less loudly than Gill had. She also hugged Parvati. "I'm sorry I don't have a present," she continued.

"You will," said Gill. She carried on when Lillie looked at her confusedly, "Parvati is not coming with us today- wait let me finish," she said as Parvati protested at this injustice. "I know your size and what dress you have I'll be able to get stuff for you, and while we're there we'll buy you a present."

"Fine," said Parvati grudgingly.

Lillie smiled and walked past them into the bathroom grabbing her toiletries on the way. She washed and changed into her white robes and then headed down to breakfast. When she got there Teddy spotted her and beckoned her over. She moved towards him, but her way was obstructed by Professor Selwyn and she almost walked straight into him.

"Watch where you're going, girl," he spat at her. "Do that again and you'll have detention from now until Easter."

"Yes, sir."

Professor Selwyn walked off towards the staff table, leaving Lillie with that same odd feeling at the base of her spine she always got when she was around him. She saw that Teddy had stood up from the bench but she waved him back down. "Don't even ask. Nothing happened," she said as she sat down opposite him.

"Fine. Are you looking forward to your 'ball' tomorrow?" he asked and Lillie nodded half-heartedly. "Last year's was a disaster: someone in the year above put dung-bombs in a corner and halfway through, he charmed them all to fly around hitting everyone and everything. I enjoyed it if I'm honest, but I don't think the girls did."

"If you do that this year I think that my dorm mates, Gill and Parvati would hunt you down and kill you, not to mention Victoire," replied Lillie, laughing slightly.

"Speak of the devil," said Ted. Lillie whirled around in her seat and spotted the feisty blonde walking in. "Oi, VICKY!" shouted Ted, Lillie turned back to face him and noticed that his hair had turned a nice golden colour. This didn't shock her; by now she was used to him changing his features at will.

Victoire looked away pointedly and marched off towards the Gryffindor table making a point of not looking at them. Teddy chuckled. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by a shrill cry from behind Lillie. She turned around and had registered nothing more than red hair when Gill was panting at her side.

"We have to go," she said between pants.

"Err, Gill, it's only nine," said Lillie, in a voice similar to that of someone trying to explain something to someone very young.

"Come _on_," she whined, stretching out the word 'on' into two syllables.

"Excuse me," she said to Teddy who looked amused at the whole affair, a boyish grin on his face.

Lillie got up and was almost dragged across the hall by Gill. When they reached the Entrance Hall, Victoire caught up with them. "Are you going shopping? Can I come? Are you going to Luciana's shoes and jewels?" asked Victoire in rapid succession.

"Yes, yes and yes!" replied Gill as Lillie rolled her eyes. They set off down the castle steps and into Hogsmead, Vicky and Gill discussing shoes, handbags and everything else, while Lillie thought of a present to get for Parvati.

After an hour or so, Lillie had decided what she wanted: pale grey pumps and a sapphire necklace. Gill and Victoire on the other hand were nowhere near deciding so Lillie went around the shop looking for things for Parvati. She needed shoes to go with her bright orange dress and Lillie picked out a pair of grapefruit coloured high heels and a matching pair of gloves. The other two professed their delight at these and immediately added them to the mounting pile.

This time around, Lillie looked for a present for Parvati. She looked through dozens of boxes of earrings, peered down aisles of shoes and examined countless other objects. By lunch, she still hadn't chosen anything and so the three of them went off to have lunch down the road at the four broomsticks. It was filled with people and it was much warmer than it was outside. None of them ate much, choosing instead to talk about Parvati's present. About twenty minutes into their conversation Vicky shot up out of her chair and ran towards the door shouting something about being late for someone.

Lillie and Gill used this as their cue to go back to the shop and keep hunting presents for Parvati. At last, one and a half hours later, Lillie found the perfect match. In a box labelled moods, among the rings was a small circlet, it was black, but as soon as she picked it up it turned sunshine yellow.

"Gill!" she called through the shop.

"What?" came the reply a few aisled down.

"I think I've just struck gold," said Lillie smiling.

She heard the clatter of shoes being dropped onto a floor and a few seconds later, Gill was at her side. She took the circlet from Lillie's hands eyebrows slightly raised. As she did so the circlet changed colour, going from yellow to dark green. Gill stared at it in amazement, and at her change in mood, the circlet turned a brilliant golden colour.

"Yes, I love it! You're a genius Lillie!" she cried and rushed over to the counter quickly handing over the money. She returned to her side, "Here take this," she said handing a small bag of coins to Lillie who opened her mouth to protest. "It's for your Christmas shopping, so you can get me and any other _significant others_ some prezzies."

"Significant others?" asked Lillie perplexed.

"Like that boy at breakfast today, very good-looking, he's a keeper," she laughed. Lillie blushed, but before she had time to say anything Gillian had gone, red mane trailing behind her.

Well she might as well, thought Lillie and started drawing up impromptu Christmas list in her head: Gillian, Parvati, Chris (if she was getting Chris something she would also have to get Richard something), Teddy, Victoire, Isa and maybe Etta if she had enough money.

As it turned out, she did have enough money and most of the shopping was relatively easy. For Gill she got a pair of green earrings and for Parvati the same but in white. For Victoire she found a bottle of rose and honey perfume. She decided to get Isa a pretty little leather notebook and Etta a bottle of colour changing ink. She got Richard a poster of Luke Dagan: his favourite Quidditch player and for Chris she got a set of 'Magical Mischief Making' from the shop that Victoire's uncle George owned. Last but not least, she got Teddy a small teddy bear whose fur could change colour.

With the money bag nearly empty and laden with several shopping bags, Lillie began the short trek back to Hogwarts. It had started to snow while she was in Hogsmead and the large flakes fell softly to the ground and on her hair making it look like she was wearing a strange brown and white hat. It wasn't until she mover her hand to her face to wipe away some snow that she realised she was crying. She wiped away the tears and bit back anymore and began to walk faster.

* * *

><p>Three hours later the girls' dorm had become a zoo; everyone except Lillie was rushing around the place grabbing make up or hairbrushes and running into the bathroom. Lillie was sitting calmly on her bed reading the second hand copy of Hogwarts a History she had taken from the library, the name in the cover read Hermione Granger. ties, two tubes of lipstick and some red nail polish. She took it out and handed it over to Etta who took it gratefully and went back into the bathroom.<p>

Lillie decided that she might as well get changed, she took the necklace out of the drawer and fastened it around her neck, she also took her shoes and socks before walking over to the cupboard. She took out the pumps first and then brought out the dress and hung it carefully on the door of the cupboard. She pulled off her robes before taking the dress and pulling it gently down over her head. It fell to her ankles and she stepped into the pumps, she untucked her hair from the dress and let it cascade down her back.

"Wow," came a voice from behind her. She turned around and saw Jennifer looking at her. "You look really nice," she complimented her.

"Thanks, you too," replied Lillie. Jennifer was wearing a simple pale pink frock that reached her shins, her long dark hair had been tied up elaborately and she was wearing golden earrings. "How did you do that hair?" asked Lillie, trying to start a conversation.

"It took so long, but it turned out okay," she replied.

"More than okay, Jenny, it looks great. I like the earrings and dress too, where did you get them?"

"They used to be my mother's, she sent them in a few days ago," said Jenny, flushing slightly.

"Tell her good choice. Can you help me with my hair? I'm not very good," asked Lillie.

"I'd love to," said Jenny taking a hairbrush and a comb off her cupboard. "How do you want it?"

"Oh, you know, nothing too special, just less tangled than it is now."

By the time Jenny had finished with her hair, all the knots had gone and it fell in waves down her back. She had also used some gel of some kind that made it feel much softer and ensured that it would not get knotty again.

The girls all walked down to the Great Hall together complimenting each other, especially Jenny's hair, Parvati's mood circlet, which was a brilliant white that contrasted starkly with her dark hair, and Lillie's dress.

They reached the hall five minutes early and joined the growing crowd of people milling around. Lillie caught site of Victoire in an eye-catching red dress and headed over to her. When Victoire saw her heading over she scrutinised every detail of Lillie's appearance.

"Exceptional," she said when Lillie finally reached her, nodding her approval at the dress. "Although, the shoes could be better, but that dress is fantastic." Lillie smiled vaguely as Victoire went through her outfit and then her own occasionally nodding or agreeing. "… the problem is that I didn't have enough time to do my hair properly," she finished off. "Have you got your eye on anybody in particular?" she asked.

"Erm, no, I don't think so," replied Lillie unsure of what Victoire meant.

Etta spotted her and came over, she was wearing a dark green velvet gown. "You do know the dance starts in half an hour right?" Lillie nodded. "Well you might want to get ready. Anyway, do you have any red nail polish, I've ran out?"

"Yeah, give me a sec." Lillie crouched down beside her bedside table and opened her make up and jewellery draw. There wasn't much in it, the necklace she had just bought, a few bracelets, some hair

"Well, with a dress like that you could get anyone you wanted. I, personally am going in for Mike Bilding, they reckon he's the best at Quidditch in our year," said Victoire.

"Don't tell the Timberlake twins that." Boys, Victoire was talking about boys. She hadn't really thought about that. The only boys she knew well were Chris, Richard and Teddy, and she didn't 'have her eye' on any of them. She didn't really know any other boys well enough to even consider… Her train of thought was interrupted by Victoire.

"Is that prat Mindy Bamforth wearing the same dress as me!" she exclaimed angrily. Lillie followed Victoire's gaze and saw a girl she recognised as a Slytherin from her Charms class. It seemed that Mindy had also seen Victoire's dress and the two girls moved in on each other.

When they reached one another Victoire whispered something that Lillie couldn't hear. Apparently Mindy found it quite offensive and shoved Victoire violently backwards. Lillie stopped her from falling over, but as soon as she regained her balance she went back over to Mindy and slapped her hard across the face.

Mindy swore loudly, by now most people were watching and Lillie saw a teacher struggling to get through the crowd towards them. Lillie moved forward slightly just as Mindy swung at Victoire who ducked agilely before raising her arm to have another go at Mindy. Lillie grabbed the arm and whispered, "Don't bother, she's not worth it," to Victoire who slowly lowered her hand.

"Yeah you cow, listen to your mudblood friend," taunted Mindy.

There was a collective gasp from the onlookers and Professor McGonagall, who had managed to force her way to the front cried, "Bamforth, how dare you address anyone like that. You three, my office. Now!"

Lillie, Victoire and Mindy followed Professor McGonagall out of the hall and across the castle until they reached a stone gargoyle. "Tartan," said Professor McGonagall and the gargoyle spiralled upwards revealing a moving spiral staircase. She stepped on and beckoned for the three girls to do the same, when the staircase stopped they were outside a large wooden door. Professor McGonagall pushed it open and the three of them traipsed inside.

She walked over to a desk and stood behind it pointing at three chairs in front of it. Wordlessly the girls sat and McGonagall leaned forward over the desk to glare at them. She looked at Victoire and said "Explain."

"First of all, professor, all that Lillie did was stop me from hitting Bamforth, she really doesn't deserve to be here," said Victoire, pausing for a moment to gauge any reaction from the headmistress. As there was none she continued, "As you can see Bamforth and I are wearing the same dress, I went over to her to point this out and she got very angry and-"

"That's not what you did!" exclaimed Mindy in outrage but McGonagall held up her hand to silence her nodding at Victoire to continue.

"So, like I said she got angry and shoved me very hard. I would have fallen over if Lillie hadn't caught me. I must admit though, I did overreact too. After she pushed me, I went back over to her and slapped her then she tried and failed to hit me and I was going to hit her again if Lillie hadn't restrained me, and then… Well you saw what happened," Victoire trailed off.

"Indeed," said Professor McGonagall through pursed lips. "You can go," she said to Lillie, who feeling relieved got up and headed for the door. She walked in what she hoped was the right direction, but in the end found herself completely lost.

She wandered around aimlessly for a while until she recognised a painting of a baby elephant. She stopped and looked the painting for a bit. The elephant trumpeted dolefully as it had in her first week and she pulled at the side of the painting which swung away revealing the dark passage.

When Lillie emerged she discovered that it was night-time and a full moon, partially covered by clouds, was lighting the place with an eerie glow that reflected of Lillie's dress giving her a strange aura.

"Who's there?" called a voice that Lillie recognised.

"Teddy? Ted is that you?" she called back.

"Go away," said Teddy.

"What's wrong?" asked Lillie as she moved towards the source of the voice.

"Go!" he cried.

At last Lillie reached him; he was lying in a ball on the ground. She reached down to touch his arm, but instead touched his hair.

"Don't touch me," said Teddy aggressively and Lillie withdrew her hand.

"Teddy, what's wrong? Do you want me to go and get someone?"

"No!" he exclaimed and grabbed her arm, pulling her back down. His hand felt strange, a bit like the paw of a dog and the nails dug into her skin painfully.

"Ouch! Teddy let go, you're hurting me," she said. He immediately withdrew his hand and curved back up into a ball.

The whole area was suddenly brighter as the moon came out from behind the clouds. Lillie gasped, for the person in front of her wasn't Teddy. The arms that covered the head were covered in thick brown hair, even the hands. And the fingernails on those hands were curved, pointed and yellow, more like claws.

"Teddy?" she asked, slightly scared. "Teddy what happened to you?"

"My father was a werewolf. Every month I spend the night here so no one can see me."

"But I thought werewolves were very vicious. Why didn't you attack me?"

"Because I'm not a werewolf. I'm still me, I'm still Teddy, just a lot hairier and with claws instead of nails and fangs instead of teeth. I come here so no one will see me."

"But don't people notice that you're gone for the night?" asked Lillie.

"No. This lasts exactly twelve hours, but time doesn't go here like it does back in Hogwarts, so I spend twelve hours here and then go back my dorm looking completely normal and it's only been half an hour or so. Perfect solution," he said the last two words very bitterly and Lillie felt very sorry for him.

"I… Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to get something, or someone?"

"No. Just go away, I don't want you to see me like this. But please don't tell anyone. Not even Victoire knows."

"I wouldn't dream of it," said Lillie. She walked back to the passageway and glanced back at Teddy before stepping in.

* * *

><p>When she reached the Great Hall, she found the dance in full swing and the change in mood was a little overwhelming. It seemed that most people had already forgotten the incident between Mindy and Victoire. Lillie spotted a refreshments table and headed for it but she was intercepted by Richard.<p>

"Tut, tut, tut, getting into fights, Lillie? What are we going to do with you," he grinned broadly and then laughed at the look on her face. "Care to dance?" he offered her his hand. Putting on a smile, she took it and he led her to the centre of the dance floor where they began to dance. Richard pretended to be all gentleman-like and stood upright complimenting Lillie on a "simply wonderful dress" and a "flawless quickstep".

When the song ended, they went to get a drink and Richard started chatting about the holidays, "We're going to an island in the Pacific. Apparently it's so far from any land that we won't be able to receive owls or anything."

"In that case, I'm going to have to give you and Chris your presents now then."

"You got me a present?" asked Richard slightly surprised. "I didn't realise you had any money."

"Gill gave me some. Now let me go and get it and while I'm doing that you can go and get mine,"

She turned and marched out of the Great Hall and went up to her dormitory returning a few minutes later with the long package that contained Richard's gift. When she got there she found Richard waiting there with Chris, each one of them holding a badly wrapped gift.

She exchanged the package in her hands for the one in Richard's and when she turned to face Chris he said, "Where's mine?"

"Upstairs, now gimme," she reached for the package but he held it up out of her reach.

"I'll give it to you when you give me mine, but wait till after this song, it's a classic." He offered his hand out to Lillie who took it then he put Lillie's present in a broom closet near where they were, Lillie and Richard did the same and the trio headed into the Great Hall.

It turned out Chris was better at dancing than Richard, but he pretended to be even more pompous, and did not stop for the whole dance. It wasn't until they were halfway back towards Ravenclaw tower and Lillie punched him that he stopped.

In the common room they exchanged gifts and Lillie put her two presents in the space beneath her bed. When they returned to the Great Hall the ball was finishing up and Lillie found Parvati and Etta before heading back upstairs. They interrogated her thoroughly on what had happened in the Headmistress' office but were disappointed by the answers. Lillie assured them that she would recover the precise details from Victoire and then tell them what they were.

When they reached the last corridor, Lillie saw Teddy walking away from the painting of the elephant, she hung back to talk to him, but he shook his head and she entered into the common room with the other two and followed them up to the dormitory. They got ready for bed quickly and quietly and soon enough, Lillie was lying awake among the low even rasps of the sleeping girls thinking about what she had seen in Orphan's Hollow and what Victoire had said about 'having her eye on someone'. Could it be Teddy, she was only eleven; she shouldn't be worrying about these kinds of things yet, but even so. One floor up, Teddy Lupin was thinking about a similar thing but he was only twelve; he wouldn't have to face those kinds of worries for what seemed like a very long time.

When they woke up the next morning they had completely forgotten any thoughts that they had had the night before and they would stay forgotten for a very long time.

* * *

><p>Lillie waved goodbye to everyone as they left, hugging all of them except Samantha who she didn't know very well. She was looking forward to these holidays, even if they were going to be a little lonely. She had decided that she was going to get a lot of reading done and hopefully she would be able to explore the castle a little. Victoire and Teddy were also staying in, something about not wanting to go visit their uncle Charlie in Romania so they might come as well. She had also heard from Teddy that Hogwarts Christmas dinner was absolutely amazing and that she would be allowed out into Hogsmead during the holidays. All in all, the future looked bright for Lillie.<p>

**Author's note:**

**Thanks as always to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl (still no update).**

**This was the longest chapter that I have ever written by a long way. Sorry for the fluff, but I know that there are some people who like it.**

**Please review if you read. Tell your friends to read too.**

**Over and out.**


	10. The Chamber of Ravenclaw

Silver Lining

Chapter 9: The Chamber of Ravenclaw

Lillie spent the first few days of the holidays getting her homework out of the way. This was quite simply an essay or two in most subjects except Herbology: Neville had given them each a different plant that they had to identify and look after in the appropriate way.

Thursday morning she woke up early and discovered that it was snowing heavily. She got up, performed her usual morning ritual before heading out the dorm. As soon as she opened the door she regretted it for it was freezing in the staircase. As she drew closer to the common room, the cold intensified until it was almost unbearable.

Lillie stopped dead as soon as she entered the common room; the room that had been perfectly tidy the night before had become a zoo overnight. The chairs and tables were all over the place, the statue of Rowena had been knocked over, the large window was broken and all the paintings were either off the wall or completely lopsided, but strangest of all were the animals. Lillie only recognised about half of them, there were owls and ravens and various other common birds, but there were also two things that looked like crosses between a horse and an eagle and another horse-like creature which had dark leathery skin and was extremely thin, so much so that all its bones could be seen under its skin. There were a number of other strange animals all of which had wings, so Lillie assumed that they must have flown through the window.

The black skeletal horse-thing looked at her with its milky white eyes and Lillie withdrew, slightly put off by it. Someone came down the stairs behind her and knocked into her, she tripped but stayed on her feet.

"Sorry," said Lillie and so did the person who had bumped into her. She turned around and saw that it was Toby, the person who had shown her to the common room on her first day. He, on the other hand, was not looking at her, instead he was taking in the scene of carnage that was the Ravenclaw common room.

"What happened?" he asked. He stepped forward into the common room but froze when the heads of all the creatures swivelled to face him. He faced the horse-eagles and bowed deeply. A few seconds later, the creatures bowed back. He motioned for Lillie to do the same and she did.

"Why did I have to bow?" she asked, straightening up.

"These," he pointed at the horse-eagles, "are called hippogriffs. They're very proud and if you want to approach one you should bow first, otherwise it might attack you."

Lillie looked at one of the hippogriffs, who was watching her, the look it gave her said, _He's right you know._ She turned back to face Toby who was walking over to the black horse, except that he just walked straight into it.

"Why did you do that?" asked Lillie.

"Wait, you can see it?" he asked and Lillie nodded. "Oh. This is a thestral," he said pointing slightly above the creature. "Only people who have seen someone die can see them." There was a slightly awkward silence for a moment.

Lillie looked around the room again. This time, however, her eye was caught by a trapdoor that was underneath the place where the statue of Rowena had been. She moved over to it curiously, Toby watching her as she did so. She knelt down beside it as Toby came over, she tried to pull it open but it wouldn't budge. She took out her wand from her pocket and pointed it at the trap door. "Alohamora," she tried and there was a soft click. She tried once again to open it and this time it came open with ease.

She looked at Toby who was now also crouched down beside it. He pulled out his wand and pointed it into the gap in the floor. "Lumos," he said and the place was suddenly full of light. This revealed that there was a ladder leading down, however, no floor was visible so it was possible that the ladder could down indefinitely. Toby grinned at Lillie before placing his feet on the top rungs of the ladder and slowly lowering himself into the passage. "Coming?" he asked Lillie.

Lillie bit her lip, but in the end curiosity overcame fear, "Alright, but you're gonna have to carry me back up." Toby laughed and began climbing. He held his lit wand in his mouth as he needed both hands to climb. Lillie followed him into the dark and a minute later all that she could see of the common room was a small square of light.

"I think I can see the floor," said Toby after what felt like a thousand rungs.

"About time," muttered Lillie.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, her feet were once again upon solid ground. She looked around; they were in a small empty room with two passages leading out of it. Lillie was about to ask which one they should take when several things happened in rapid succession.

First, the ladder melted away, then an apparition appeared at the entrance of each passageway, then a small table appeared in front of them as the trapdoor above their heads shut with a bang that echoed all the way down to where they were and lastly a bit of parchment drifted slowly towards them landing silently on the table in front of them.

Lillie looked at the apparitions, they looked similar to ghosts but there was something solid about them, as though if you tried to get past one of them they would be able to stop you. They were people, one man and one woman. They were very beautiful but intimidating nevertheless.

When they spoke their voices blended into one and were impossible to distinguish. "Why did you move the Lady's statue? We have not been disturbed for almost one thousand years, we hoped that it would remain so," they said calmly. Then their faces mutated and became terrifying making Lillie move closer to Toby. "Why are you here?" they shouted. Lillie gripped Toby's arm in fear.

"We- we didn't know what was down here. The common room has been infested with birds, thestrals, hippogriffs and other creatures, one of them toppled the statue. We only came out of curiosity, we didn't mean to cause offence," explained Toby hurriedly. It seemed that he was feeling much less scared than Lillie, or at least he hid it better.

"Very well," they said returning to normal. They gestured to the table and the parchment on it. "Your names," they said simply.

As they spoke, the parchment in front of them was suddenly no longer blank; a small table had appeared on it, there were already three names on it, each with two dates next to it: _Helga Hufflepuff (__January 970, May 1075), Helena Ravenclaw (__September 993, May 10__48__)__, Salazar Slytherin (February 1072, February 1072)_.

"My name is Lillian Whitehead," said Lillie. As though an invisible hand was writing across it, Lillie's name: _Lillian Whitehead (December 2010, -),_ then Toby did the same: _Tobias Rasbash (December 2010, -)._

"Follow me, Lillian," commanded the man before turning around and gliding off down the passage. Lillie lit her wand as she hurried after him and behind her she heard the woman say, "Follow me, Tobias."

"Where are going?" asked Lillie when she caught up with the man. He did not answer. Lillie decided against asking again and just followed him silently down the passage.

Five minutes later they stopped. Lillie looked up, they were facing an enormous portrait of a beautiful but austere-looking woman who Lillie recognised as Ravenclaw.

"What you will see in here is unique and I advise that you only tell those whom you most deeply trust of it," said the man mysteriously before addressing the portrait, "My Lady, you have visitors." Ravenclaw examined Lillie for a few seconds, then she nodded and the portrait swung aside revealing a large room, empty except for a book on a sort of altar.

Lillie entered the room and the portrait swung shut behind her. Because she did not have anything else to do Lillie moved towards the book. As she reached it, the book opened to a page very near the beginning. She looked down at it and began to read.

_Godric's narrow-mind is really showing through again, he will not allow for anyone else to voice an opinion. Of course he is distraught, the poor man, Salazar's betrayal was very hard on him, Helga too, I should like to speak with her, but she is not aware of my knowledge of her affections and she has been through enough. They speak of shutting the school but I will not allow it, we have spent so much time and effort into Hogwarts._

_Godric still refuses to tell Helga or me where Salazar left his chamber, he claims he does not know, but we are sure he is deceiving us for he and Salazar shared everything right up until the last day. Helga still longs for Salazar's return and she retreats to her waterfall for hours on end and refuses me entry. Godric also shuts himself away and I do not know where he has hidden his lair nor does Helga so we cannot speak to him often._

_Helga and Godric have become even more reclusive and I often find myself wandering the corridors for hours on end hoping to find someone. I still do not know what we shall tell the pupils when they arrive; we cannot tell them the truth, that is certain. We may have to appoint a Headmaster and leave this place._

_Salazar returned. Helga gave him the location of my chamber and he had the audacity to enter. He tried to poison me with grand plans of power and when I refused he attacked me. I should have ended his miserable life but Helga arrived and prevented me from doing so. He is gone now and I hope for his sake that he never returns._

_We have appointed a Headmaster for the school and we are leaving tomorrow. Helga has almost recovered and is looking forward to returning to Dolwyddelan, I doubt whether Godric will ever be the same. I am looking forward to returning home, where I hope to carry on my research in peace._

"Hello, Lillian," said a voice from behind her. Lillie whirled around; she had quite forgotten where she was. Lillie was now face to face with a woman who she recognised as-

"Are you Rowena- I mean Professor Ravenclaw?" asked Lillie.

The woman smiled slightly. "Yes, I am, or what's left of her. Thank you for the title by the way. What did you think?" she asked.

"Umm… It's interesting. No one really knows what happened in that time. Slytherin's chamber has been discovered, almost twenty years ago by someone called Ginny Weasley I think. I read about it in a book."

"Where is it?" Ravenclaw's face, which had been calm before had changed, there was now anger in her eyes, mixed with what seemed to be regret.

"It's in an unused girl's bathroom on the second floor."

"I shall go pay it a visit one day."

"What did you mean when you said that you're what's left of Professor Ravenclaw?"

"Three years after what you read, I found Salazar in my house trying to steal my research. I killed him that day but he cursed me, this was a curse like no other, I would not recover from this. Slowly, it leeched my life away. I went to visit my oldest friend, Helga Hufflepuff, and with her aid I returned to Hogwarts, where I created my two shepherds and a copy of myself to live on here for eternity. Do not ask how I created a copy of myself as I can tell you are about to. I had spent many years of my life investigating death and in the three years before my death, I created a way of going into death whilst leaving a version of me behind."

"I don't quite understand that, but I think that that's probably a good thing," said Lillie after a moment's deliberation. "There are so many things that I would like to ask you, but I don't know which ones to ask," admitted Lillie after a few seconds of silence.

"Then ask none. I know it is against your nature as a Ravenclaw so to do, but there are many things in me past that I would wish to keep secret."

"Once I've gone, will I ever be allowed to return?" asked Lillie before she could stop herself.

"Yes, my chamber is always open to those who find it, but I beseech you only come when you are in real need of counsel."

"Is there another way in? I don't think that I will be able to move the statue in the common room without anybody noticing."

"There is another entrance, but it changes location, however, I think you will recognise it. Farewell, Lillian, that door will take you wherever you need to go."

Lillie looked to where Ravenclaw was pointing; there was now a door in the stone wall. Lillie approached it but just before she left she turned back to Ravenclaw. "Is Helga Hufflepuff's waterfall hidden behind a painting of a baby elephant and can you only reach it if you're an orphan?" Ravenclaw narrowed her eyes, examining Lillie, then she nodded her head a tiny bit.

As Lillie opened the door, it changed: the smooth ebony turned to oak and it doubled in size. When she passed through, Lillie found herself in the Great Hall. Amazed at what had just happened she pinched herself as she walked over to the Ravenclaw table. She saw Toby sitting about halfway down with some other six years and she walked straight past him, choosing to sit alone at the very end of the table.

A few minutes later, Victoire came in and sat next to her because there were no other Gryffindor first years staying in over the holidays.

"What happened to you? You look like you've just seen a thestral," said Victoire as she sat down.

"That's because she has," said Teddy plonking down on the bench opposite her a few seconds later making both girls start.

"What?" asked Victoire, shocked.

"There's a thestral in our common room, along with a couple of hippogriffs, some owls and some other stuff, isn't there Lil."

"What? Oh, yeah there is. Never call me Lil again," she added.

Lillie had almost forgotten about the state of the common room in her visit to Ravenclaw's secret lair and she and Teddy explained what had happened.

After breakfast, they took Victoire up to the Ravenclaw common room so she could see the damage; everything was pretty much the way it was when she had gone through the trapdoor except that there were now two thestrals and the amount of snow inside the room had increased. Bizarrely, the statue of Ravenclaw had righted itself and was back in its original position. As she looked at it, she could have sworn the statue winked at her.

"Who's up for a snowball fight?" asked Teddy loudly, interrupting Lillie's train of thought.

"Sure," she said and went upstairs to get her cloak, scarf and gloves.

**Author's note:**

**Thanks to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl as always.**

**But I would like to dedicate this chapter to LUVZ. for reviewing every single chapter and for passing it on to her forum and just generally being awesome.**

**This chapter was not at all planned and I had absolutely no idea where I was going with that but there you go, Lillie's met Rowena Ravenclaw.**

**It was all improvisation so I hope you guys like it.**

**Sorry for any typos or mistakes.**

**Please read and review, you could all take a leaf out of LUVZ.' book.**


	11. The Holidays

Silver Lining

Chapter 10: The Holidays

Lillie entered the common room after lunch chatting jovially with Teddy. The day before he had shown her the 'Room of Requirement', she doubted if she would ever find it again. Today they were meeting up with Victoire and going into Hogsmeade, they were allowed to go out in the holidays, which, according to Teddy, was a new rule. Lillie also wanted to go to the library to do some research for Herbology, but that could wait till later.

Lillie went up to grab her cloak and the little money she had leftover from her Christmas shopping. When she returned to the common room Teddy was already there waiting for her and they resumed their conversation about muggles.

"I think what muggles have done is quite impressive really like televisions, for example, or computers or phones. Some of those things are really useful, take the internet: instead of spending hours looking through books trying to find some info, you can just type in what you want and hundreds of answers come up within seconds."

"Yeah, but those things don't work properly around magic. I don't get how people can live without magic," replied Teddy feebly.

"Because they don't have a choice and also they never actually had access to it," said Lillie rolling her eyes.

Teddy made a strange noise and gestured with his hands making Lillie laugh, eventually he gave up trying to do whatever it was that he was trying to do and simply said, "I suppose so." His hands dropped back to his sides and they walked on in silence for a minute or so. "At least they can…" Teddy began, but exactly what they could remained a mystery to Lillie for at that time Peeves the poltergeist burst out of the classroom next door, cackling loudly.

Lillie had learned early on that whenever Peeves was around, the best thing to do was to cover your head and run, so this was exactly what they did, not stopping until they reached the Entrance Hall.

"What happened?" asked Victoire, who was waiting for them there.

"Peeves," said Teddy simply.

"I _hate_ that creature!" cried Victoire. "He keeps dying my hair ginger, why would I ever want to be ginger?"

"Vicky," said Teddy, "99 percent of your family are ginger."

"I know, it's so embarrassing, but I've managed to convince dad to dye his blonde," said Victoire satisfactorily.

"I can't wait to see Molly's reaction," said Teddy.

They set off across the grounds now discussing the Weasleys, a very broad topic seeing as there were so many of them. When they reached Hogsmeade Victoire and Teddy were arguing about their uncles Fred and George.

"Wait," said Lillie, trying to understand what was going on. "They're own the same shop, right?" Teddy and Victoire nodded. "They split the money evenly and live in the same house?" They nodded again. "They share a bank account?" Nod. "Then surely, they have the same amount of money?"

"Oh, yeah," said Victoire.

Teddy on the other hand refused to give up, "Let's go ask them, they have a shop on the high street." He turned left and led the other two up towards the brightly coloured joke shop with the inscription 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' in large gold lettering above the door, in smaller letters below this was written, 'Now in London, Hogsmeade, Paris, Cairo, Tokyo and Los Angeles.

Teddy pushed open the door and they all went in. She was glad of the warm air in the shop and she looked up. She gasped. The inside of the shop was even brighter than the outside and the noise was deafening, squeaks, squeals and bangs came from all directions and the place was packed with people. "Follow me, and _don't_ get lost," Teddy whispered back to the two girls.

"Don't you tell me what to do, Theodore, I have been here before," said Victoire offended before flouncing off through the crowd.

Teddy and Lillie rolled their eyes, accustomed to Victoire's antics by now. Teddy set off in the direction Victoire had gone and Lillie followed close behind him. She did not know what to look at, because there was so much; she settled on the back of Teddy's head so as to not lose him. A few minutes later they reached a door that bore the inscription 'Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley'. Teddy pushed it open and Lillie followed him inside.

A cry of "Ted!" reached their ears and Lillie looked past this to see Victoire sitting next to two men, who Lillie assumed must be Fred and George. They were quite tall with short orange hair and bright, happy faces.

Ted raised his hand, went over and sat down opposite Victoire who stuck her tongue out at him. "Lillie was right," she said, "they both have the same amount of money."

At the mention of Lillie's name, Fred and George cracked identical grins and looked over to where she was standing by the door. "So, this is Lillie," said the one sitting one the right.

"Teddy's told us a lot about you," said the other.

"_Guys_," said Teddy blushing. Lillie didn't notice this; she was too busy trying to hide her own glowing cheeks behind a curtain of hair.

The twins beckoned, Lillie found it slightly unnerving how they did everything in unison, but she went over anyway and sat next to Teddy.

The grins suddenly faded off the twins' faces replaced by serious expressions, the one on the left opened his mouth to speak, "Right, down to business."

"We're thinking of starting a muggle joke shop in London," said the one on the right.

"We want you to be our informer," said the first one.

"Tell us everything you know a bout muggle pranking," said the second one.

Lillie who had been warned by Victoire that this might happen knew that they were joking but she didn't let on. Instead, she said "What would your parents say? Didn't your father use to work in the Misuse of Muggle artefacts office in the ministry, he wouldn't be happy, would he? And your mother, what would she do to you, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when she finds out your pranking Muggles."

The twins' faces were blank for a moment but then they grinned again and one of them chuckled slightly.

"You can keep her," they said in unison to Teddy and Victoire before standing up. "I think it's time for a tour," they said before grabbing Lillie, Victoire and Teddy and frog-marching them out the door.

Their tour of the shop ended with the girls' section, full of love potions and spot removers which actually turned the spots into boils and other such things. Victoire immediately went over to the love potions and started examining them. "I feel sorry for the bloke who she gives that too," stage-whispered one of the twins.

"He's got my sympathy," replied the other one.

"Own up Vicky, who is the unlucky fellow?" they finished together.

Victoire glared at them as Lillie said "Michael Bilding." Victoire turned her glare on Lillie who smiled innocently back. An evil smile then began to spread across Victoire's face and she said "You want to slip some in Chris Timberlake's pumpkin juice."

Lillie's cheeks burned and she looked down, biting her lip; she had never thought of Chris in that way, thinking about it now didn't seem that strange though. Teddy also flushed but only George noticed this and he took Fred's arm and led him away from the trio back to their office.

When Lillie looked back up Victoire was once again examining the love potions and Teddy was tying his shoelaces. "I have to go," he said suddenly, rising and walking away from the two girls.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Lillie.

"Puberty, all boys go grumpy between the ages of twelve and seventeen," replied Victoire knowingly.

It took an hour for Lillie to drag Victoire out of the shop. They walked up to the castle quickly but when they reached the grounds, they saw that the oak doors were being blocked by about a hundred students: everyone that was staying in and they were having a huge snowball fight

Lillie and Victoire tried to make their way around it but before they were even close, a huge snowball flew through the air and hit Victoire squarely in the face. "Michael Bilding," shouted Victoire, "I will KILL YOU!" She ran off screaming towards a boy who Lillie vaguely recognised. Laughing, Lillie also joined the fray and it didn't stop until Professor McGonagall came out and ushered them all inside, by this time everyone was soaking and Lillie headed straight for the showers in her dormitory.

…

On Christmas morning, Lillie woke up with an unusual pressure at the end of her bed. She sat up groggily and looked down at it. To her surprise there was a pile of presents sitting on top of her feet. Suddenly feeling much more awake she reached down and grabbed the first one: it was from Parvati, a white silk scarf and a copy of her aunt's and mother's book _Midnight: a tale of love and betrayal by Padma and Parvati Patil._ The next one was a copy of _Hogwarts: a History_ from Richard and a large box of make-up from Victoire. Underneath this was a small package that turned out to be from Dulcia and it contained one galleon, one sickle and one knut. The next gift was from Gill: a pair of blue woolly gloves. The last present was from Chris, it was a plain silver bracelet with her name engraved on it.

Lillie headed down to breakfast wearing everything that could be worn. The suits of armour were wearing Christmas hats on top of their helmets and many of the portraits were singing Christmas carols. When she reached the Great Hall Lillie gasped; the Christmas trees that were lined up on the back wall had been decorated: one was wrapped in multi-coloured bubbles and on top of one there was a small winged creature wearing a crown singing beautifully. As if this wasn't enough, the usual floating candles had been replaced with hundreds of real flittering fairies.

Lillie spotted Victoire and Teddy sitting halfway down the Gryffindor table and she went over to join them. As she approached they stopped talking and Victoire began to watch Lillie like a hawk. Lillie took no notice and sat down opposite Teddy. "How come you didn't get me a present?" she asked in mock anger.

"Of course I did," he said taking out a small vial of golden liquid. "Felix Felicis," he announced proudly, "Victoire's aunt Hermione taught me how to make it."

"That's nice, but what does it do?" Lillie asked eyeing the golden potion suspiciously.

"It gives you luck. One gulp and you will be the luckiest person alive for 24 hours. It takes ages to make though and it's really complicated. I've been working on this batch since March, finished it yesterday. The good thing is, I now have a whole cauldron full of the stuff."

Lillie took the vial and examined it carefully; she estimated that there were about seven mouthfuls in there.

"You are not wearing anything I gave you!" cried Victoire suddenly from beside her, almost making her drop the potion. Lillie held up her hands and showed Victoire her purple nails. "Humph," said Victoire grumpily, "I'm wearing that perfume you got me," she said sulkily and sure enough, Lillie could smell the rose and honey perfume that she had bought for her.

Teddy grinned and stood up, "I'll leave you two girls to it, then, I have a Transfiguration essay to finish." He walked out of the door leaving Victoire and Lillie squabbling in his wake.

Christmas lunch was a merry affair, Lillie and Victoire decided to sit with the other first years that had stayed in for the Christmas holidays, about fourteen in total, most of which were Hufflepuffs. There were crackers that exploded with such a loud bang that the fairies retreated into one corner whenever they heard one go off, the main course was delicious, roast turkey, roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast parsnips etc. Lillie wasn't so partial to the desert Christmas pudding and so was one of the first to leave the hall. She spent the rest of the afternoon in her bed reading '_A tale of love and betrayal'_, which was as good as Parvati had promised.

The rest of the holidays passed in a blur and soon enough the dormitory was once again full.

**Author's note:**

**Thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker.**

**I'm so sorry I took so long to update, but my laptop broke and so I wasn't able to write. That's also why this chapter is so short, I wanted to get it up as soon as possible and I promise the next one will be longer (and sooner).**

**There's probably loads of typos because I really rushed it, but please review, if you don't like it tell me and I'll see if there's anything I can do to make you like it.**

**PLEASE REVIEW**


	12. Where Did All the Time Go?

Silver Lining

Chapter 11: Where Did All the Time Go?

The Easter term seemed to pass by much faster than the winter term and soon enough it was April and the holiday buzz was in the air. Lillie couldn't remember much of what had happened, it had been a very busy term and she could only remember three things distinctly.

The first of these was the exams that they had sat in February. Lillie had done quite well in these four O grades ad three E grades. She remembered the weeks leading up to them were full of confusion and hectic revision from the first years while everyone else assured them that they weren't important.

The second thing she could remember were the two Quidditch matches that Ravenclaw had played that term, the first one against Hufflepuff had been a quick match (only a minute long) which Ravenclaw won 150-0. The second match had been against and was much better, from a Ravenclaw's point of view anyway. Ravenclaw had thrashed Slytherin 680-0 in a brutal two hour humiliation for the Slytherins. By the end of it Lillie's throat was sore from cheering at the 53 goals that Ravenclaw had scored, including one where the Ravenclaw keeper soared across the length of the pitch holding the quaffle and threw it over the head of the Slytherin keeper and right into the centre hoop and another when one of the beaters hit a bludger into the quaffle and sent it soaring right through the keeper's legs.

The last thing she could remember was the one thing she wished she could forget. It had happened two weeks before the end of term. Lillie had caught Teddy snogging a second year Gryffindor in a corridor near the Charms classrooms. She didn't know why she felt annoyed about this, she didn't like Teddy, not in that sense anyway and she didn't know who this girl was but even so, she found that whenever the though of them popped into her head she would become moody for a few minutes. She hadn't spoken to Teddy since then either, she wasn't avoiding him deliberately, it was just that whenever she saw him she would be reminded of that kiss and would subsequently become grumpy with the whole world.

"Hey Lil'," came a voice from beside her bringing her out of her reverie. She looked around and saw Gill's face and ginger hair a foot away from hers.

"Hey," Lillie said, yawning. It was dinner on the Wednesday before the end of term and Lillie was unimaginably tired. "What's up? Why are you so… bouncy?"

"My mum said yes. You can come and stay at our place for the Easter holidays and so can Parvati, Etta, Jenny and everyone else."

"Oh, that's great," said Lillie finally cottoning on to what Gill was talking about.

"Yeah and because it's my birthday next week, she said that we can have a kind of pool party too. I'm gonna invite loads of people so it should be great fun," jabbered Gill excitedly.

"Hold up, you have a pool?" asked Etta sitting herself down opposite Gill and Lillie, Gill nodded. "Oh my god, so jelly belly, right now," exclaimed Etta.

Lillie who was not really in the mood for 'girl talk' excused herself and got up to leave the Great Hall. When she reached the doors, however, her path was obstructed by none other than Professor Selwyn.

"Just the girl I was looking for," he said in his usual terrifying whisper.

"Hello, Professor Selwyn," said Lillie calmly.

"Shut up, girl. I have a message from Dulcia," he said handing Lillie a small envelope. Lillie took it and put it in her pocket.

"Thank you, Sir," she said, trying not to let her utter hatred for the man in front of her seep through into her words.

"I told you to be quiet," he said lowering his voice even further; Lillie had to fight very hard not to recoil. "I look forward to seeing you in tomorrow, I shall need a… volunteer," he finished, a terrifying, mirthless smile spreading across his face. He then pushed past her into the Great Hall. She stood there for a moment, too stunned to moved, after about ten seconds, she started to make her way slowly towards the stairs.

By the time she reached them, she was flanked by Chris and Teddy. She stopped for a moment and looked from one anxious face to the other then without a word made her way up the stairs, she heard the two boys follow in her wake. She sighed but kept on walking towards the Ravenclaw common room, still without a sound. As she reached the door to the common room, it was opened by a fourth year from the inside. Lillie let her pass but then carried on through before the door could close. She climbed the stairs to the dormitories and was about to push open the door to the girls' dormitory when she found her path obstructed by Teddy. Accepting the inevitable, Lillie turned to face the two boys.

"I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about," she said, knowing full-well that this would not satisfy either of them.

"What did he do?" asked Chris.

"He was passing on a letter from my great-aunt."

"What did it say?" asked Teddy.

"I don't know; I haven't opened it yet." Lillie looked at Teddy and Chris but both of them just stared at her. Once again she sighed and pulled the letter out of her pocket. She took out the piece of parchment and read aloud.

_To my filthy great-niece, __  
>I'm glad to discover that you are not returning for you holiday. I do, however, feel sorry for the poor girl with whom you are staying. I hope you have a torrid time.<em>_  
>Dulcia Fabiana Selwyn, <em>_  
>P.S. I hope you enjoy the return journey.<em>

Lillie finished reading and looked up at the two boys.

"What does she mean 'I hope you enjoy the return journey'?" asked Chris looking between Teddy and Lillie.

"I don't know," said Teddy looking anxiously at Lillie. "Lillie, what does she mean? Is it a threat? Well, Lillie?"

"I don't know. Don't ask me, I don't know. Now if you'll please excuse me I want to go to bed," she said, pushing past Teddy and walking into her dormitory. Behind her she heard Chris and Teddy muttering worriedly. She walked over to her bed and grabbed her towel from the railing and got into the shower. The hot water was soothing and she stayed in the shower for about an hour; when she came out, she felt like a lot of the stress that she had been felling recently had been washed away.

Lillie did not sleep well that night, dreams involving Dulcia, Professor Selwyn and the Gryffindor second year from outside the Charms corridor meant that when she woke up the next day, she did not feel rested at all, but instead all the stress had returned. Lillie had hoped to be able to avoid Chris and Teddy for the next two days, but because Chris was in so many of her classes this proved to be impossible.

The last lesson on Thursday was Transfiguration and Lillie still had Professor Selwyn's words running through her head: _I shall need a… volunteer. _Lillie didn't know what this volunteer would have to do but she suspected that it wouldn't be anything fun, not for the volunteer, at any rate. She turned up early so as not to give Professor Selwyn an excuse to get angry with and waited apprehensively outside of the classroom. Soon enough the whole class was waiting silently for Professor Selwyn to show up. When he didn't, Mindy Bamforth tried the door but it was locked. They waited where they were for another fifteen minutes, when he still didn't show up, a few people began to leave. This broke the ice and a minute later, the corridor was empty, and Lillie's pounding heart was beating at a more normal pace once she realised that she wouldn't have to face Professor Selwyn again until after the holidays.

As they were walking back towards the common room Lillie saw Chris heading for her so she dodged into a girls' bathroom that she was passing and marched into one of the cubicles closing and locking the door behind her. She heard Chris call out her name but she ignored him. She wasn't sure why she was avoiding him, she wanted to be able to spill out her worries to someone, but when the opportunity came, she didn't want to.

A few seconds later she heard him walk away. She let herself out of the cubicle and examined herself in the mirror. She looked tired, her skin was paler than usual and she had shadows under her eyes. She did not look eleven. For that matter she didn't feel eleven either. She didn't think that any eleven year old should be scared of going home, but scared of being at school as well.

When Lillie finally returned to the common room, she found it empty, and she traipsed up to her dormitory and collapsed onto her bed in the far corner. She drew the hangings shut around her and fell fully-clothed into a deep dreamless sleep. When she awoke, the clock on the wall next to her bed told her that it was 7:30.

She was about to get up to go down to dinner when she saw the six sleeping figures of the other girls. How long had she been asleep? Where did all the time go? As quietly as she could, so as not to wake up the others, she picked up her towel and went to go have a shower. By the time she got back, Parvati and Jenny were up and about as well.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Jenny.

"What?" asked Lillie.

"When we came in last night you were already asleep, so we assumed you weren't feeling well," explained Jenny.

"Oh, right. I'm feeling fine, I was just tired last night, that was all." Jenny smiled at Lillie before going into the bathroom herself.

"I'm really looking forward to the holidays. Apparently Gill's house is really nice and she's invited so many people to her pool party thing, it should be so much fun," Parvati said excitedly.

Lillie nodded and Parvati followed Jenny into the bathroom. Lillie left the dormitory as other people started to stir and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As it was so early, barely anyone was there and Lillie sat down alone at the very end of the Ravenclaw table. When she had finished, the room was almost fall. Lillie had seen Chris enter but he didn't come and sit next to her, instead, he sat with Richard at the Gryffindor table.

Friday morning was easy for Lillie; she had double Herbology followed by double Quidditch. After that she had the afternoon completely free, and during that time she planned on packing before the train left tomorrow morning.

Herbology was simple enough; Neville had them juice a plant with an unpronounceable name, whose sap could cure many minor poisons. In Quidditch, Professor Wood, made the advanced and intermediate groups do some difficult-looking drills under the watchful eye of Harriet Linky, a seventh year who planned on becoming a professional Quidditch player and the beginner's group played a match. Lillie played keeper, mainly because nobody else wanted to, and turned out to be surprisingly good.

That afternoon, packing did not take as long as she had expected and she found herself with a couple of hours free time and nothing much to do. She decided to go for a walk in the grounds. She had reached the common room when she was intercepted by Teddy. They had only spoken once in the past two weeks and that was on Wednesday when he had interrogated her about hers and professor Selwyn's conversation.

"Where are you going?" he asked casually, but Lillie could see that he was tensed up.

"For a walk," said Lillie simply. Teddy raised his eyebrows slightly and Lillie raised hers back. "I was packing, I finished and so I decided to go for walk," said Lillie.

"Where?"

"In the Grounds."

"Don't go near the for-,"

"I know, Teddy," interrupted Lillie, "I've been at Hogwarts for over seven months now."

"I'm sorry," said Teddy meekly, but when he next spoke Lillie could once again hear the conviction in his voice, "It's just that I worry for you. I know it's irritating, I do, a people used to, still do it to me and irritates the hell out of me but… I see now why they did it. It's natural; I can't help but worry about you."

Lillie stood in stunned silence watching Teddy, during his little speech his hair had gone red and it was slowly fading back to normal. Eventually she whispered, "I'm sorry, Teddy, I forgot." And it was true. She had forgotten. Over the past few months she had forgotten that Teddy was an orphan like herself. He was just less preoccupied by it; he was calm and led a perfectly good life, from now on Lillie would strive to do the same.

"It's fine," said Teddy, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her shoulders pulling her in against his body. After about a minute Lillie pulled away, "Still going on a walk?" asked Teddy gently and Lillie nodded. "Can I come?" Once again Lillie nodded and together, they walked out of the door one of Teddy's arms still around Lillie's shoulders.

They walked for about half an hour or so, around the back of the castle where Lillie had never been before. They walked in comfortable silence, the afternoon sun warm on their faces. Eventually the came to a small cabin near the trees, Lillie had seen it a few times from the castle but she had never been near it and she had no idea what it actually was. There was smoke from the chimneys and a large shadow could be seen moving around through the pink flowery curtains. Teddy who evidently knew whoever lived here went up to the door and knocked loudly.

"Who eez eet?" came a heavily accented woman's voice from within.

"It's Teddy, Madame Maxime," said Teddy. "I came to visit Hagrid."

"Agreed is ill at ze moment, Teddy, but I will tell im you came, he will be so glad to eer eet. Eet az been getting lonely," replied Madame Maxime.

Teddy sighed and walked away from the hut with Lillie close behind him. "Who are Madame Maxime and Hagrid?" asked Lillie.

"Hagrid used to be groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher. He's retired now, pushing on 80, he still lives there with his wife Madame Maxime," explained Teddy. "Hagrid is good friends with my godfather, that's how I met him. They mostly keep themselves to themselves, eighty's quite old for a giant and Hagrid-"

"A giant!" cried in Lillie, shock obvious in her voice.

"Keep your voice down," urged Teddy. "Anyway, he's only half-giant and Madame insists that she is 'big-boned."

After that they lapsed once more into silence and headed back up to the castle, passing along the way the marble tomb of Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, an old headmaster of Hogwarts and from what Lillie had read, a great man in general.

As they approached the castle again, they heard the bell ring signalling the end of lessons so Lillie and Teddy decided to go straight to dinner, they were first in and they crossed over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. Soon enough, however, the hall was full of people bustling about, Lillie spotted Jenny and Parvati walk in together and was about to beckon them over when she was pushed aside. She looked at what had pushed her and blanched; straddling the bench where she had been sitting was the Gryffindor that Teddy had snogged. Lillie slid awkwardly down the bench away from Teddy and didn't stop until she hit something solid.

With the colour returning to her face because of the embarrassment she turned around and saw none other than Toby Rasbash, the sixth year prefect with whom she'd descended into The Chamber of Ravenclaw. She hadn't spoken to him since then and at the moment she didn't particularly want to.

"What the- Oh, hey… Lillie," he said awkwardly. "Long time no see. Err. How are you?"

Lillie opened her mouth trying to think of something to say but was saved by Jenny and Parvati who had finally reached her. "Erm, Lillie, can I talk to you?" asked Parvati hesitantly. Lillie turned to her relieved and nodded like there was no tomorrow before sliding back up the bench so she was as far away as possible from both Toby and the girl who was once again hanging off Teddy's face. Parvati and Jenny sat on either side of her perplexed at Lillie's antics.

"Is everything alright, Lillie?" asked Jenny, in her usual kind tone.

"Yeah it's just… I'll tell you later," said Lillie flatly. "What did you want to say Parti?" Lillie asked Parvati who smiled at the nickname.

"Oh yeah, Gill's present. You know how there are four of us staying at Gill's this holiday, us three and Etta. Well Jenny, Etta and I thought that it might be a good idea if instead of getting her four separate things; we all pool together and get her one really good present. Is that cool with you or have you already got her something?"

"You know I can't, but it sounds like a great plan," said Lillie encouragingly and Parvati's grin returned.

Half an hour later, Lillie, Parvati and Jenny were making their way out of the Great Hall. "So are you going to tell us what was happening when you arrived?" asked Jenny, looking questioningly at Lillie.

"Oh. It's not much. During the Christmas holidays a hippotiff-,"

"Hippogriff?" suggested Parvati.

"Yeah, a hippogriff broke into the common room, there was loads of other stuff in there too. Toby, that's his name, came downstairs to find me in the middle of all this mess and he thought that I'd done it. I told him I hadn't but he didn't believe me and said he would report me to Professor Flitwick if he caught me doing anything else," said Lillie, making it up as she went along. Jenny nodded understandingly and Parvati looked slightly surprised to hear about the hippogriff, but neither said anything sensing that it wasn't something that Lillie wanted to talk about.

That night they all stayed up late talking about the two-week holiday that started tomorrow. Samantha and Isa both promised that they would come to Gill's party and so they would all be seeing each other at some point. As it transpired, most of the Ravenclaws were going to Gill's party with the exception of the McDougal twins who were going back up to Findhorn. As well as this a lot of Hufflepuffs had been invited Victoire, Richard and a many other Gryffindors and only one Slytherin: a guy called Julian Jones (Jenny's twin brother and Gill's crush). All in all it was set to be a busy event.

The train back to London left at ten o'clock in the morning, and so most of the girls' dormitory was up before eight unpacking and repacking their bags, making sure they weren't forgetting anything. Lillie on the other hand stayed in bed until about nine, at which point she finally got up, had a quick shower, packed her towel and headed downstairs to grab a quick breakfast before she left.

When she finally headed out of the castle doors with the other girls, it was twenty-five past nine. The girls headed towards the path that led into Hogsmeade; lined up along the path were several carriages each one attached to two of the black skeletal winged-horse things like the one that had broken into Ravenclaw back in December. The other girls didn't seem to notice them and she was about to ask them about the thestrals, when she remembered that only people who had seen someone die could see them, so instead she just got into the carriage with the others and a few seconds later they were trundling down the path to Hogsmeade chatting merrily.

A couple of hours later, Lillie was sitting in a compartment inside the warm and comfortable train, which was lucky, because outside the sky had gone black and rain was hammering against the roof and windows. There hadn't been enough room in the compartment for all seven girls so Lillie had volunteered to go sit elsewhere. She had ended up in a compartment with Chris, Richard and the infamous Michael Bilding, whom she had never met, but had heard a lot about from Victoire. The three boys were discussing Quidditch and Lillie felt her head drooping to the side, by the time it landed on Richard's shoulder, she was fast asleep.

_Lillie's eyes opened and she found herself on the floor of a strange room, it was made from dark grey, almost black stone and the shiny floor was covered in papers and splinters of wood. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light Lillie realised that the floor was not shiny, but covered in pieces of glass that Lillie assumed must have come from the window in the corner._

_Next to the window was a door, Lillie headed towards it, but couldn't open it. She turned to the window and pushed aside the billowing white curtains. Lillie quickly withdrew from the edge of the window for outside, there was a sixty foot drop onto hard rock. More carefully this time she peered through the window. She appeared to be in a tower, on a lonely rock in the middle of the sea, there was a strong wind, which made both the threadbare curtains and Lillie's sleeveless knee-length night-dress flap. She looked down at the craggy rock below her and thought she saw movement but when she looked back she couldn't see anything._

_She looked down at herself: her night-dress was dirty ripped and in places, there were droplets of what appeared to be blood. There seemed to be rope-burns and bruises on her arms as well. Lillie had no idea how she had ended up like this._

"_Hello," said a small voice from behind Lillie. She whirled around, cutting her foot as she did so, standing behind her was a girl no older than nine. "I'm Anna," said the girl._

"_Hello, Anna, I'm Lillie. Do you know where we are?" asked Lillie approaching the girl, who shook her head. Lillie opened her mouth to speak again when she heard the sound of a key in a lock. She turned around to face the door instinctively stepping in front of Anna as she did so. There was a loud click that reverberated through the silent room, neither Lillie nor Anna dared to breathe, ever so slowly, the door began to creak open…_

The train gave a sudden jolt and Lillie jerked awake, her head coming away from Richard's shoulder before colliding painfully with it again. When she looked around, she realised that all three of the boys were staring at her with wide eyes. It was Michael that broke the silence, "Are you okay?"

Lillie considered him for a moment, she didn't know him and would rather just tell Chris and Richard, but he seemed nice enough and it would be rude to ignore him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why, what happened?"

Richard spoke this time, "You were sleep-talking." Lillie raised her eyebrows slightly at this, Richard didn't seem to notice and kept speaking, "It was fine at first, but after a bit you started shaking and sweating and then moaning. It was a little scary to be honest."

Lillie swallowed, she didn't know what to say, she might have told Chris and Richard but with Michael there she couldn't, not that she didn't like him, but she'd only met him today. "Bad dream," she said feebly. With that she got up and left the compartment heading down to the bathroom at the end of the carriage.

The door was ajar and she slipped through, shutting it behind her. She looked at herself in the mirror, she was very pale and there was still sweat at her hairline and around the contours of her nose. She twisted the tap and cold water came gushing out, she splashed some onto her face and it seemed to wash away some of the worry she had felt since waking up. It had been just a dream, nothing more, nothing less. Lillie dried her face and looked back into the mirror, she was still pale but some of the colour was returning and everything else seemed alright. She left the bathroom and walked straight in to Chris who had clearly followed her out of the compartment.

"What happened?" he asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

"It was just a bad dream, Chris," said Lillie, getting impatient.

"Hell of a bad dream to make you…" Chris started saying but Lillie cut him off.

"Chris, have you never had a bad dream? I'm fine just a little shaken that's all." Lillie was not sure what had happened, a few moments ago, she had wanted to tell Chris and Richard everything, but now she was letting the opportunity pass by, no more than that, she was pushing it away. Maybe it was because she had convinced herself that nothing was wrong.

Chris opened his mouth to say something back but in the end decided to let it drop and turned around before heading back to the compartment. Lillie gave him a minute to cool off before heading back herself. When she got back the boys had started talking about Quidditch again and she didn't interrupt although Richard did give her a concerned look. Lillie took a book out of her bag at random and opened it to a page roughly a third of the way through, but she was only pretending to read. On top of still being shaken from her dream, she now felt bad for getting angry with Chris as well.

By the time they were approaching King's Cross a few hours later, the atmosphere in the compartment had relaxed and Lillie had joined the conversation which had changed from Quidditch, to Professor Wood and they were now on the topic of teachers in general.

"I think Dung, I mean Professor Fletcher's great," said Michael. "Lillie, you agree with me right?"

"He's good fun and he's nice and relaxed," conceded Lillie, "but when it comes to teaching, he's not great."

"Exactly!" said Chris.

"Alright. Fair enough. You know who completely creeps me out though, is Professor Selwyn," Lillie saw Chris and Richard tense up at this and they both glanced at her, Michael was oblivious to all this and ploughed on, "I don't even have him for Transfiguration, I've got Professor Hemmingway, but even so, he makes me cringe." He looked up at the others, clearly expecting a response, when he didn't get one he looked a little confused.

Luckily for Lillie, they pulled into the station at that moment; she grabbed her bags and hurried out of the compartment, calling something about finding the others over her shoulder. She reached the compartment where the other girls were just as the train pulled to a stop, they greeted her jovially, they had clearly enjoyed the journey much more than she had.

They got off the train onto the steamy platform, where Lillie said goodbye to Samantha and Isa who weren't going to stay at Gill's house, although they would be going to the birthday party next week.

"My parents told me that they would be waiting near the exit of the platform," said Gill leading the other four towards the exit of the platform, it was hard to see through all the steam but eventually they heard a cry of "Oi, Gill, over here!"

They headed towards the voice and through the steam Lillie could make out Jeremy and Sienna Marlon, Gill's older siblings, a young girl, identical to Gill who Lillie assumed was Gill's younger sister. Standing behind these three were two people who must be Gill's mum and dad. Her dad had short, black, greying hair and the same blue eyes as Gill, he had a very strong chin and he looked slightly haughty. Lillie could tell that Gill had inherited many more of her mother's features; they both had the same red-brown hair and they had very similar builds.

The man smiled, "Hey girls," he said, his voice was kind and gentle but Lillie could tell that he could be stern if needs must. "Because we live quite far away, we're going to have to floo back home. Have you all done it before?"

There was a positive murmur from four of the girls, Lillie on the other hand spoke nervously," I haven't."

"Not to worry," said Gill's father, "Gill will tell you about it. Now follow me, all of you, I don't want anyone getting lost." He then walked past the girls and led them towards and started leading them across the platform.

Lillie looked questioningly at Gill who nodded and came over to her. "Basically," she said, "you step in the fire, yes, fire," she said at the look on Lillie's face, "but don't worry you can't feel it. You step through into the fire, drop the floo powder and say the name of the place you want to go. But be careful, make sure you speak clearly."

'Flooing' turned out to be easy. Mrs Marlon went first, then Gill's little sister, Helena, and then Gill's brother and sister, than Jenny, Etta and Parvati went. Lillie stepped forward, glancing over her shoulder, Gill nodded encouragingly and, bracing herself, Lillie stepped into the flames.

The flames did not burn, as Lillie had been sure they would, the feeling was actually quite nice, like warm water and Lillie stood enjoying it for a bit. Then she grabbed a handful of powder from the jar in Mr Marlon's hands, it was dark grey and felt just like sand. Raising her hand she cried, uttering every syllable with the utmost care, "Marlon Residence!" and then she threw the powder into the flames.

Everything around her went bright green all of a sudden and in a split-second the faces of Gill and Mr Marlon were gone. Lillie felt like she was spinning round and round, even though she could feel her feet on the floor. A few seconds later, the green light died away and Lillie staggered forward into what she hoped was Gill's house.

When she had regained her composure, Lillie stood up and looked around the room. It was quite clearly a kitchen, but it was the biggest kitchen that Lillie had ever seen, there were many counters and cupboards an oven and many other things, milling around near where she was standing were the people who had come through earlier, Lillie went over and joined them. A few seconds later, Gill came through the fire and announced that Mr Marlon was about to send through the luggage and, sure enough, two minutes later there were seven suitcases in the room.

"Come on," said Gill excitedly grabbing her suitcase. The other four girls followed suit and then Gill lead the way upstairs to their rooms. The house was big and well-decorated. Their rooms were on the top floor (out of three), they each had their own one and Gill showed each girl in as she went forward. "Okay, Jenny, you're in this one and Etta you're across the hall," she said and the two girls split off from the small group. "Parvati you're in there opposite me and Lillie you're just a bit further."

Lillie opened the door to her room, it was big, bigger than any room she'd ever had at any rate, the walls were faded, so Lillie couldn't make out the pattern, as she approached it, however, she realised that it was adorned with lilies. She made a mental note to thank Gill for that later, but first of all, she had to unpack her stuff.

Dinner that night was quite a quiet affair mainly because the girls, Jeremy and Sienna were all to tired to talk much. Gill's mother was an excellent cook and they all went to bed that night feeling exceptionally full; Lillie was asleep the moment her head hit the soft pillow.

Lillie was woken up the next morning by a small tapping at the window, she got groggily up and headed over to it. Even though it was still quite early, it was already bright and Lillie saw a small, pale grey owl perched on the window ledge, she opened the window and it hopped inside sticking out its leg to which was tied a small roll of parchment. She untied it and the owl flew back out of the window.

Lillie watched it go curiously, when she could no longer make it out, she looked around, she saw the enormous pool below her and she thought she saw a rabbit or some other small creature running into the bushes at the end of the garden. She looked back down at the scroll in her hand. Who knew she was here? Well, a lot of people actually. But why were they writing to her already? She slowly began to unravel the parchment.

_Hey__ Gill,_ it started and Lillie stopped reading, the letter had obviously been delivered to the wrong person. She got up and headed out of her room, she wasn't sure if Gill's room was to her left or to her right, she looked around but when she couldn't see anything she headed left and tried the first door she came to. Lillie was pretty sure that this wasn't Gill's room: it smelled of boy, there wasn't a single poster of Adam Irvine anywhere and the person on top of the covers looked distinctly like Gill's brother Jeremy wearing nothing but boxers. Jeremy began to stir and Lillie bolted out of the room and back the other way, not stopping till she reached the door to Gill's room. Lillie pushed open the door and this time she was satisfied that it was Gill's room for Gill herself was sitting cross-legged on the bed a book open on her knees.

"Hey, Lillie, what's up?" she asked looking up from her book. "Have you been running?"

Lillie, who was a little flustered, took a while to reply, "This came for you this morning, the owl came to my room instead of yours," she held up the letter. "I couldn't remember which room was yours and I accidentally walked into your brother's room," she finished.

Gill sat up a little straighter, "Please tell me he was wearing clothes," she said.

"Just about," said Lillie and Gill relaxed slightly.

"Can I see the letter?" she asked, Lillie nodded and handed over the little roll of parchment. Gill quickly scanned through it and her face fell.

"What is it?" asked Lillie tentatively.

"It's Julian, Julian Jones, you know, Jenny's twin, he says he can't come," said Gill, looking slightly crestfallen. Lillie, like everyone else except Julian Jones, knew about Gill's huge crush on Julian.

"Oh well, you'll see him again soon enough," said Lillie.

Gill brightened up at this and got off her bed, "Let's go down to breakfast."

"What time is it?" asked Lillie as they headed out the door.

"Who knows, mum will probably be up though and if she's not, I'm sure we could throw something together.

As Gill had predicted, her mother was up and about, she told them that Mr Marlon had gone to work already and then that she would start making breakfast once more people had come downstairs. Gill then took Lillie into the sitting room and sat down on one of the comfortable sofas.

"What does your dad do?" Lillie asked Gill curiously. She wanted to know what jobs people had in the wizarding world.

"He works in Gringotts, the wizarding bank in Diagon Alley," said Gill, matter of factly.

"So he's a banker?" asked Lillie, slightly disappointed, she was hoping for something much more, much more magical.

"Not really," said Gill and Lillie looked at her confused. "He works for the bank, not in it. I'm not really sure what he actually does, but sometimes he has to go abroad for ages, usually to really strange and remote places. When he comes back, he's normally been injured but will have some kind of treasure."

"That's more like it! I knew wizards would have more exciting jobs than muggles. My parents worked for the government, unbelievably boring stuff, I had no idea what they were talking about when they tried to explain them to me," said Lillie. "So what kind of places does your dad go?"

"Last time he left, he went to Madagascar, you know, down in Africa. He came back with a huge spike of some kind of white stone but he was in bed for about a week afterwards," said Gill.

Lillie, who was surprised at Gill's casual tone asked, "Don't you get really worried about him?"

"Not really," said Gill in the same casual tone. "He always turns out fine in the end."

Lillie still wasn't convinced, but she let the matter drop. "Do you ever get to go with him?"

"Sometimes, if it's not a dangerous place we can visit him, but we're not actually allowed to know specifically what he's doing," said Gill, and although she said it airily, Lillie could tell that Gill was annoyed by this.

At that moment they heard footsteps coming down the stairs and a moment later, Parvati came in, followed by Etta. "Where's Jenny?" asked Lillie.

"I think she's still in bed," replied Etta.

"I'll go get her and then we can have breakfast," said Gill heading up the stairs.

A few minutes later they were seated around the large table in the kitchen: Lillie, Gill, Parvati, Etta, Jenny, Mrs Marlon and Helena; Sienna and Jeremy were still in bed. Mrs Marlon had prepared an enormous cooked breakfast and in the middle of the table were several large platters of food: sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, jams, pancakes, waffles, and something that Lillie didn't recognise but everyone else seemed to love.

"So, girls, about the party next week, do we know roughly how many people are coming?" asked Mrs Marlon.

"About forty five in total," said Gill.

Her mother whistled slightly, "That's a lot of people. What kind of food? Where? What do you plan on doing? Come on Gill, we need to sort these things out."

"I think a kind of buffet will do," said Gill before turning to the others and asking, "What do you guys think?"

"How about a barbecue?" suggested Parvati.

Then the planning began, the seven of them discussed everything from food to flowers and Lillie felt a bit overwhelmed. By the end of breakfast, a plan had been conceived, although Lillie wasn't entirely sure what it was and she left the room feeling a little bit dazed.

…

At long last the evening before the party arrived, the girls had gone to bed feeling slightly apprehensive: it had been raining for the past two days, and it didn't look like it was about to stop anytime soon. As these weren't ideal conditions for an outdoor barbecue, Gill and her mother had made emergency plans and it was looking increasingly likely that they were going to have to use those plans.

Fortunately, however, when she woke up, Lillie saw the sun shining through the crack in the curtains and she heard Gill's excited cry next door, muffled by the walls. Soon enough, they were all, with the exception of Jeremy, seated around the table eating breakfast.

No one spoke much; there was a tension in the air which seemed to have come out of nowhere, Lillie hadn't realised how much people got worked up over something like a party, she wasn't used to the feeling having never organised a party before. Hoping that the atmosphere would improve once guests started arriving, Lillie headed back upstairs to have a shower, passing a groggy looking Jeremy on the way.

She opened the door to her room, and heard a cry of, "Silencio!" from her bed. Taken aback, she turned to face the castor; standing at the foot of her bed was Professor Selwyn. Lillie tried to scream, but no sound came out and a gruesome smile played upon Professor Selwyn's face and he raised his wand pointing it at Lillie.

Lillie turned around and sprinted down the corridor slamming the door behind her trying to make as much noise as possible. She heard the door blast open off its hinges and crash to the floor, and just as she reached the staircase Professor Selwyn cried "Incarcerus!" Lillie felt ropes wrap themselves around her arms and legs and she fell down the stairs. It wasn't long before Lillie lost consciousness.

**Gill's Point of View:**

There was a slam from upstairs and Gill jumped, they all looked up at the ceiling and a second later they heard a thunderous crash; Gill and the others all moved into the hall. There was a shout that sounded like a spell and a split-second later the shape of Lillie came into view bouncing down the stairs, she was wrapped in ropes and she was clearly unconscious.

There was a scream from beside her but Gill didn't know or care who it was for at that moment the thin form of Professor Selwyn came marching down the stairs. He crouched beside the small still body on the ground and grabbed it, he looked at the group gathered at the bottom of the stairs for a moment and then, with a loud crack, he was gone.

**Author's note:**

**Thanks go out to all the usual as well as the people who have added me to their favourites.**

**Sorry I took such a long time, but I had serious writer's block and it **_**is**_** the longest chapter that I have written so far.**

**Please forgive any typos and other such things.**

**AND PLEASE REVIEW! Good, bad, long short, they are all welcome.**


	13. Trapped

Silver Lining

Chapter 12: Trapped

Lillie's eyes opened and she found herself on the floor of a strange room, it was made from dark grey, almost black stone and the shiny floor was covered in papers and splinters of wood. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light Lillie realised that the floor was not shiny, but covered in pieces of glass that Lillie assumed must have come from the window in the corner.

Next to the window was a door, Lillie headed towards it, but couldn't open it. She turned to the window and pushed aside the billowing white curtains. Lillie quickly withdrew from the edge of the window for outside, there was a sixty foot drop onto hard rock. More carefully this time she peered through the window. She appeared to be in a tower, on a lonely rock in the middle of the sea, there was a strong wind, which made both the threadbare curtains and Lillie's sleeveless knee-length night-dress flap. She looked down at the craggy rock below her and thought she saw movement but when she looked back she couldn't see anything.

She looked down at herself: her night-dress was dirty ripped and in places, there were droplets of what appeared to be blood. There seemed to be rope-burns and bruises on her arms as well. Lillie had no idea how she had ended up like this.

"Hello," said a small voice from behind Lillie. She whirled around, cutting her foot as she did so, standing behind her was a girl no older than nine. "I'm Anna," said the girl.

"Hello, Anna, I'm Lillie. Do you know where we are?" asked Lillie approaching the girl, who shook her head. Lillie opened her mouth to speak again when she heard the sound of a key in a lock. She turned around to face the door instinctively stepping in front of Anna as she did so. There was a loud click that reverberated through the silent room, neither Lillie nor Anna dared to breathe, ever so slowly, the door began to creak open.

Lillie stood protectively in front of the younger girl as the door reached the zenith of its arc. There was a beat of silence. Then a small, old and fat man with a face that looked a bit like a rat came entered the room. He took one look at Lillie standing in front of Anna and sneered. In a horrible, rasping voice, he said, "Step aside, foolish girl."

Lillie realised he was talking to her and in a voice that sounded braver than she felt she said, "Why should I?"

"Have it your way then," said the man and he seized Lillie with a gloved hand and started dragging her out of the room.

Lillie tried to stop him but the old man was surprisingly strong and he dragged her out of the door. When they were outside, he took a key from his pocket and locked the door with one hand, while the other one kept its vice-like grip on Lillie's arm. Lillie examined her surroundings: they were clearly inside a tower, for, apart from a window, the only thing that Lillie could see was a set of steps going up and another going down.

"Go!" the man commanded shoving Lillie up the steps. She struggled against him to no avail and soon enough she was walking up the steep, spiralling steps wondering what was in store for her at the top.

It was only then that Lillie remembered everything that had happened at Gill's house, she gasped and stopped suddenly. The man behind her shoved her forward again and she resumed the long ascent up the staircase.

When they reached the top Lillie almost walked straight into a heavy oak door. The man pushed past her and opened the door with another key. He entered the room at the top but Lillie did not follow; she was looking back down the way she had come, could she make it? If she did where would she go? Was there a boat or even a broom? Before she had the time to do anything, however, a pair of hands had pulled her into the room.

"Very good, Yorath, you can go now," said a cold voice from within the room.

Lillie barely noticed the fat old man go back out. Her body had frozen completely, but her mind was racing. Could it be… Was that… No it couldn't be.

"Hello my little acid pop," said the voice and this time, there was no mistaking it. It was the voice of Dulcia Selwyn.

Ever so slowly Lillie turned to face Dulcia. Her pale, lined face stretched into a hideous smirk that revealed several black and yellow teeth which made Lillie's skin crawl. Standing beside her were Ezekielis and none other than Professor Selwyn.

"Well aren't you going to say 'Hello' back?" asked Dulcia with a quavering and rattling laugh, which was taken up by Professor Selwyn and Ezekielis.

"Why have you brought me here?" asked Lillie when the unearthly cacophony was over.

"None of your business," said Professor Selwyn spitefully.

Lillie dearly wanted to say "Actually it very much _is_ my business," but thought better of it. Instead what followed was a silence that seemed to stretch on for ever; even the muffled sounds of the sea and the wind seemed to die down.

After what felt like hours there was an eruption of green flame from Lillie's right. She yelped in fright; she hadn't noticed the fireplace in the corner. A man stepped out of the fireplace and into the room, Lillie recognised him but she couldn't remember why. The man took one look at Lillie and sneered, "Is this it?" he asked harshly, continuing to look at Lillie. She looked him in the eye and then Lillie was sure that the stranger gave her the smallest wink, or was it a trick of the light? The rest of his face seemed so harsh.

They gazed into each other's eyes for another few seconds and Lillie tried to remember how she knew this man, but nothing clicked into place in her mind, now bell was rung and the man looked away. "What are you going to do with her?" asked the stranger.

"End her," said Dulcia simply.

"Now?" asked the man.

"No, no, no," said Dulcia. "We're going to have some fun first aren't we, Lillian." Dulcia's voice was nastier than ever.

Lillie was too shocked to say anything back _End her_, did that mean that they were going to kill her. There was a silence while everyone stared at Lillie who finally managed to stutter, "F-f-fun?"

"Not exactly _fun_," said Dulcia with a grimace which could well have been a smirk. "You see, Lillian, that wand of yours is rare, very rare. In fact, it's the first silver birch wand with bicorn core that there's been for centuries. Now that is a _lethal_ combination. Tell me, child, do you know what such a wand can do?"

Lillie shook her head. "It can bring back the dead, in exchange for the living" said Dulcia in a much softer and more venomous tone. Lillie knew that surprise must be etched across her face and she saw a little bit of that surprise reflected onto the faces of everyone in the room. It seemed that Dulcia had been keeping this particular fact to herself. "The wand, Lucretius!" cried Dulcia and Professor Selwyn stepped forward and handed her Lillie's wand, which he must have taken out of her room in Gill's house. "Now all we need is a drop of your blood _willingly_ given." Dulcia was once again looking at Lillie.

"Willingly given?" asked Lillie. She gave a derisive laugh before saying, "Do you really think that I'm going to sacrifice myself willingly for some old corpse?"

"SOME OLD CORPSE!" screamed Dulcia causing Lillie to start back in fright. "How _dare_ you speak of the Dark Lord like that? Idiot girl! You have no idea of his power! Now give us your blood!" It seemed that Dulcia had gone quite mad.

"No!" cried Lillie. Dulcia fell silent, Professor Selwyn smiled a twisted, evil smile and for a moment, Lillie was convinced that a look of relief had passed across the stranger's face, but when she looked back it was gone.

"Very well," said Dulcia, a hideous smile now started to stretch itself over her face too. "Yorath!" she called and the fat old man walked back into the room; he had clearly been standing right outside for this whole affair. "You know what to do," she said and wordlessly she moved towards the fire place followed by Professor Selwyn and the stranger.

As the strange man stepped into the grate he looked once more at Lillie, almost apologetically, she stared into his hazel eyes and then she realised why she had recognised them; she had looked into those eyes hundreds of times. "Chris?" she breathed but the man didn't hear her and a second later, he was gone with a burst of emerald flames.

Lillie turned back to face the only other two people left in the room Ezekielis and Yorath. She saw Yorath hand over a large something wrapped in a pure white cloth and then he too left the tower leaving a faint emerald glow in his wake.

When the glow had subsided, Ezekielis walked slowly across to where Lillie was hunched on the floor, he pulled his wand out from a fold in his robes and pointed it at her. Lillie felt herself go slightly limp and she uncurled so that she was lying spread-eagled on the ground at Ezekielis' feet.

She found that she could still talk and said, "Just because I can't protest doesn't mean that I'm willing.

Ezekielis smiled an extremely sinister smile that made Lillie's whole body shiver. When he spoke he pronounced each word carefully, "I know that. But what I'm about to do might make you willing." He started to laugh, and as he did so, he started to unwrap the bundle in his left hand. At first, all that Lillie saw was the glint of something shiny, but as he let the cloth fall to the floor, Lillie stared at the most lethal looking knife she had ever seen.

It had a polished ebony handle and the copper-red blade was curved slightly so that it formed a kind of sickle. Halfway along the spine, another small blade ran perpendicular to the first, only in start of being smooth, this blade was jagged. The red metal was so shiny that it looked like it was covered in glistening blood.

"This blade was forged over a thousand years ago, it has been in my family ever since, my father Yorath had been the owner until today. It is imbued with the blood of all those whom it has killed which keeps it so devilishly sharp that it can cut through anything and gives it its red tint. And above all it is cursed, so that even the smallest touch will cut the victim and cause them unimaginable pain. So where should we begin?"

In a flash, Ezekielis was suddenly on the floor beside Lillie, who was powerless to resist as he picked up her limp hand off the floor. Very slowly he brought the knife down until it was only a few millimetres from the tip of her little finger. With a sadistic grin, he eased the knife onto her finger.

Lillie screamed louder than she had ever done before. He had been right: this was pain worse than anything she had ever experienced or even imagined before. He took the knife away and the pain eased slightly. The reprieve was short-lived, however, and once again he brought the blade, which now glistened with her blood too, down. This time he cut her ring finger and he went slightly deeper than he had before.

Lillie screamed even louder. This time he didn't remove the blade, instead he rolled it so that it cut into her middle finger as well Lillie screamed and screamed until she couldn't scream anymore, the only sign that she was in any discomfort at all, were the tears pouring down her cheeks and the blood oozing from her hand.

Lillie didn't know when Ezekielis stopped, but after a while she realized that the pain was ebbing slightly. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still in the room with the fireplace but Ezekielis' spell stopped her from moving at all.

Lillie only discovered that she had fallen asleep when Dulcia's sandpapery voice next to her ear cried, "Wake up!"

Lillie did not feel refreshed from her sleep, on the contrary she felt thirsty, hungry and sick all at the same time. She tried to sit up, but when she put weight on her right hand she experienced terrible agony and she collapsed back to the floor. Instead, she propped herself up on her good elbow and gazed groggily at her company: Ezekielis stood in a corner while Dulcia straightened up beside Lillie. A bit further back, Professor Selwyn stood a few metres away from the stranger.

"Well," said Dulcia, "did Ezekielis _convince_ you to give up your filthy blood?"

Lillie looked from her, to Ezekielis standing in the corner, to Professor Selwyn and finally to the stranger. Once again their eyes met, and this time Lillie knew for certain that they were the same eyes as Chris; within them she found new solidarity and turning back to Dulcia managed to rasp, "Never."

Dulcia nodded to Ezekielis who smiled and pulled out the red blade that he had used the day before, it looked exactly the same, except this time, brown dried blood coated a small portion of the blade. Lillie watched the others go with a mournful expression; her new-found solidarity was rapidly waning. As the stranger left, Lillie swore that he mouthed "Soon," before disappearing in the all too familiar emerald flames.

As Ezekielis approached he cleaned the blade with his wand before placing it on the ground beside Lillie. He conjured up a glass and a jug of water saying, "We have to keep you alive until you crack." Lillie gulped down the water gratefully and eyed the blade. She was considering taking it but before she could do anything, Ezekielis had once again made her go completely limp.

This time the man concentrated on her left hand, cutting and hacking, while Lillie screamed worse than ever and cried until there were no tears left. After a couple of hours, her left hand had been reduced to a bloody mess and he dropped it back to the floor, where it landed with a sickening sound causing Lillie another jolt of pain.

Unfortunately, however, Ezekielis had not finished, and when he had crossed to her other side, he resumed his work on Lillie's already scabbed right hand.

Lillie lost track of time and as she drifted to the edge of consciousness, she was only vaguely aware of Ezekielis moving the blade up and up her bare arm until he was cutting at her shoulder, neck and finally face. But the deep unconsciousness that she had been hoping for did not come and she felt every fresh cut on her face like it was the first one.

Lillie did not know how long ago Ezekielis had stopped cutting her but after some time she could feel the congealed blood all over her face, neck and arms. She lay there, unmoving and eventually the anaesthetic of sleep engulfed her.

It felt like only a second later that she was being woken up by the harsh cries of Dulcia.

"My, my!" she exclaimed. "Don't we look pretty today?" she said examining the scabs and blood that covered Lillie's cold grey skin. "Are you ready to give up a little drop of blood, one drop to end all this," said Dulcia.

Lillie longed to give up, to let Dulcia do whatever she wanted, but then she looked into the imploring stare of the man with Chris' eyes and she croaked, "No."

"I don't think she'll need much more persuading," said Dulcia, looking pointedly at Ezekielis who nodded once.

Dulcia, Professor Selwyn and the stranger with Chris' eyes headed towards the grate. After the other two had disappeared, the stranger turned to Lillie and mouthed "Today." He stepped into the grate and Lillie thought she heard him say, "Platform 9 ¾," before the flash of green whisked him away. Lillie lay meekly on the ground waiting to accept the inevitable.

…

**Gill's POV:**

Platform 9 ¾ was full of the usual, beginning of term crowd, and although there was loud chatter all around them, Gill, Parvati, Etta and Jenny were too numb to notice anything.

After Lillie had been captured two days beforehand, the party had been called off because there had been an 'accident'. Gill's mother had immediately sent an owl to the ministry. The reply had said that they already had a mole among the Selwyn's and that he was onto something, they refused, however, to say anything else.

Chris Timberlake spotted Gill and, seeing how dejected she looked went over to talk to her. "What's wrong Gill?" he asked.

Gill knew that Chris was one of Lillie's best friends, if not her best friend, so she felt compelled to tell him the truth. "It's Lillie," she started and she saw Chris' eyes flash and she hesitated.

"Go on," he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, you know how she was staying at my house," Gill said nervously. Chris nodded but did not go on. At that moment, Victoire walked up to them followed by a second year that Gill recognised as Ted Lupin.

"Hi," said Victoire, her bright voice sounding out of place. "What's up?"

"Gill was just telling me what happened to Lillie," said Chris through clenched teeth. Through the corner of her eye, she saw Ted Lupin turn and stare at her, but he did not say anything, he just watched her.

"Erm… Well… Err…" Gill gulped and then everything spilled out at once. "Two days ago Selwyn came to my house and he took Lillie! We couldn't stop him! There was a noise upstairs and next thing we know, Selwyn's apparated away with Lillie. We contacted the ministry and they said they were already looking into the Selwyns but they wouldn't tell us anything else." Gill took a deep breath and looked round at the others: Victoire had blanched completely but Chris and Ted both looked livid, so much so, that Gill felt a little scared.

Then Chris said, "I'm going to get my dad." Almost at the same time, Ted said, "I'm fetching Harry." Then the two boys marched away.

…

**Harry's POV:**

Harry had just found Kyle Timberlake when he saw Teddy marching towards him, next to Teddy was a boy of about 11 who Harry vaguely recognised as Kyle's son. He knew that Teddy was good friends with Lillie and from the look on his face Harry realised that he must know what had happened. Accepting the inevitable, the two aurors turned to face the boys.

When Teddy and Chris reached the pair, they both started talking at once and the situation was not helped by Teddy's owl Silver hooting in anger at the commotion.

Harry held up his hand and the two boys eventually fell silent, but the looks on their faces showed exactly what they wanted to say, "What, where and why."

Harry wasn't sure how to begin but luckily Kyle seemed to have an idea, looking Chris right in the eyes and said, "She's alive. I've seen her."

"You've seen her?" asked Teddy. "Then why isn't she here? Why is she still with the Selwyns?" Teddy sounded more and more outraged with every question.

Harry finally spoke, "Because she's not the priority." Teddy stared at Harry in disbelief and Chris looked like he was about to punch his father's boss. Harry thought he had better start from the beginning and with help from Kyle, he explained how, back in November an eight year old girl called Anna Finnigan had been captured. Her father Seamus was an old friend of Harry's and the Auror office traced it down to the Selwyns. They planted Kyle as a mole and he had since discovered that they were now keeping Anna in a tower in the North Sea where they were currently keeping Lillie too and from what Mr Timberlake had gathered, they were torturing her too.

The boys took a moment to process this, but a minute or so after Harry stopped speaking Teddy said, "They're _torturing_ her? But… Why?"

"We can't tell you that I'm afraid," said Harry. "Now get onto the train or you'll miss it."

"Not yet," said Teddy and Harry shot him a warning look. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Well," said Kyle Timberlake, "I'm the only one who can actually get into the tower; Dulcia Selwyn has made herself secret keeper, which means that I can't tell anyone the name or location of the place."

This time Chris spoke, and looking directly at his father, he said, "So what are _you_ going to do about it, dad?"

"I'm going back. Tonight. Once that Ezekielis bloke has finished… finished his work, he'll return to Selwyn manor and not return until morning. During that time I'll hopefully be able to get both Lillie and Anna back and then to St Mungo's. Right, Chris find Richard and get on that train or you'll be left behind." Grudgingly, Chris walked away from the other three and into the rapidly thinning crowd on the platform.

"You too, Ted," said Harry but Teddy didn't budge. "Ted," he repeated more forcefully.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know that she's safe," answered Teddy coolly.

"That's out of the question. Now grab your stuff the train's about to leave." Once again Teddy didn't move. "Ted! You can't stay here!" said Harry getting slightly angry now.

"What would you have done if it was Ron or Hermione, or even Ginny being tortured?" cried Teddy his voice rising.

Harry knew that Teddy had a point but he wasn't about to concede now. "That doesn't matter," he said. "Now I'm telling you to get on that train this instant!"

"Why should I?" yelled Ted, his voice being drowned out by the sound of the whistle. "I don't have to listen to you, you're not my father!"

Harry opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out. His throat suddenly felt dry and he closed his mouth again. That was the first time that Teddy had said something like that to him. Admittedly, he had been mostly raised by his grandmother Andromeda but Harry had done almost as much. He felt as though Teddy had just punched him in the stomach.

"You're right, Teddy," Harry sighed. "I would have done the same when I was your age, I'm sorry."

…

**Teddy's POV:**

The rest of the day was very tense. Kyle Timberlake had gone over to Harry's house to wait until night and Teddy had gone with them. Despite Ginny's best efforts and three young children the atmosphere could have been cut with a rusty spoon and soon even the eldest, James, who was six, fell silent.

Teddy went up to his room and stayed there for most of the day; he didn't even go downstairs when Ginny came to get him for lunch. However, when Ginny called him down for dinner at seven thirty, he joined the others in the dining room.

The food was delicious, but Teddy doubted if the world's most exquisite beef ragu could have lightened the mood in the room. They ate quickly and while Ginny went upstairs to put the children to bed Harry and Kyle went over the plan while Teddy waited impatiently in the sitting room where the fireplace and floo powder were located.

Eventually Teddy fell asleep but he was woken up when Harry, Ginny and Kyle entered on the stroke of midnight. Sitting up he rubbed his eyes as Kyle walked over to the fireplace and before he had time to do anything there was a flash of emerald flames and he was gone.

The next two minutes were possibly the tensest time of Teddy's life. They seemed to drag on forever and Teddy grew more and more convinced that something must have happened: that Mr Timberlake had been caught, or that he couldn't finally Lillie, or, a thought which kept returning to him, that Lillie might be dead. So when the flames in the fireplace glowed green again, it was with dread, rather than hope that Teddy waited.

Suddenly Mr Timberlake was staggering out of the fireplace holding two frail bodies; Ginny rushed forward to take hold of what Teddy assumed must be Anna Finnigan, but he didn't even spare the girl a glance, for his gaze was focused entirely on the other body.

Lillie's face and arms were covered in dried blood and the skin that could be seen had a greyish tinge. Her nightdress was ripped in several places and the areas around these rips were also red with blood. Despite all this, Teddy could see that she was breathing and so was miraculously alive. Her eyes were also open, but the green had lost its sparkle. Teddy immediately leapt forward and took her out of Mr Timberlake's arms and into his own.

**Author's note:**

**First and foremost, MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

**Secondly, thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker, who has just updated The Serpens Order… Win!**

**Forgive any typos**

**And I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I will try to update soon but I can't make any promises.**


	14. Hospitals and Happy Returns

Silver Lining

Chapter 13: Hospitals and Happy Returns

This time, when Lillie opened her eyes she found herself in a very bright room; it was so bright, that she had to close her eyes again immediately. Instead of risking the bright light again, Lillie decided to feel her surroundings instead: she seemed to be in a bed, a very comfortable one too, but when she tried to move her arms a searing pain went through her body and she drew breath sharply.

She heard a shuffle from beside her and a second later someone nudged her gently; this caused even more pain and she groaned. The hand withdrew and a slightly familiar voice beside her called, "Nurse! I think she's awake."

"Thank you, Jeremy. How's the leg, dear?" asked the nurse who Lillie could hear approaching from the other side of the room.

"Fine thanks. I don't think that I need to-" the boy called Jeremy started but he was soon interrupted by the nurse.

"Now, I've told you, Jeremy, that's a very serious injury, Lorfet puss can be exceptionally dangerous and we need to keep you in intensive care for 25 days before you can go and anyway there's only about a week left," scolded the nurse.

"Okay," said Jeremy grumpily plonking back down onto his bed. "Can I at least send an owl to my sister telling her that one of her best friends has woken up out of a five week coma?"

"Alright," said the nurse but Lillie barely heard her. Had the boy Jeremy said five weeks? She tried to sit up and regretted it immediately as another burst of pain flew through her body. "Relax, dear," said the voice of the nurse who was now right beside her. "How do you feel?" asked the nurse.

Lillie groaned.

"Wait here a moment and I'll fetch something for the pain," said the nurse and a second later, Lillie heard footsteps and then the sound of someone unlocking a cupboard and rummaging within it. She was just thinking that she would have to wait there no matter what the nurse had done when the nurse returned.

Lillie felt a bottle being pressed lightly, but painfully to her lips and a second later she felt a warm liquid flow down her throat, it tasted a bit like honey. As the nurse had said, the pain in Lillie's body was reduced to a dull ache and Lillie cracked open her eyes. The light didn't seem as bright when it was covered by her eyelashes and she looked around the room: it was clearly a hospital ward.

There were four beds with white sheets and bottles of medication and potions were on the bedside tables. Small cupboards, most likely containing more potions and medications lined the wall, Lillie could also make out a figure standing beside her, but she couldn't see any details with her eyes half-closed.

"Hello, dear," said the woman.

Lillie tried to reply but her throat was too dry and she merely ended up grunting again.

"There's some water on your bedside table, dear. Now, I'm so sorry to rush off, but I have to check another ward, won't be long," said the nurse and then Lillie could see her retreating.

This time when Lillie tried to move, she found that the pain was manageable and when she was sitting up straight she opened her eyes fully and looked at the small bedside table on her right. Sure enough, there was a jug of water and a glass. As she reached for them, she noticed that her hands were covered in cuts, so she tried not to look directly at them.

She drank thirstily and when her thirst was quenched she looked back around the room. This time she saw that the bed on her left was empty but it looked like someone (Jeremy) had just got out of it. The two on her right were both occupied but the inhabitants of these beds were stock-still. One was a boy who was about fourteen and the other was a girl who looked a bit older, perhaps sixteen. At the end of the room she saw a boy with his back to her writing something on a mahogany table.

For about a minute she just sat there but then the nurse came back in. She was quite a short middle-aged woman with a friendly face and her blonde pony tail fell halfway down her back, when she saw Lillie sitting up she smiled and walked over to her. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"I don't really know," said Lillie speaking for the first time, her voice sounded a bit rough. "Alright, I guess."

"You had quite a nasty time, didn't you, poor thing," said the nurse kindly. Lillie didn't know what to say but luckily the nurse spoke again. "Now, you're a bit of a special case: you were brought here by Harry Potter himself and he told us not to notify your next-of-kin or any kin at all for that matter. He wouldn't tell us anymore, not even what had happened to you he just gave us you wand and told us to make sure you recovered. We couldn't argue what with him being the head of the auror office."

Lillie wasn't sure what to do; the last thing she could remember was the man with Chris' eyes flooing her to a strange house in the middle of the night after Ezekielis had left. Then she remembered seeing Teddy and the next thing she knew she had woken up here. How Harry Potter had gotten involved she didn't know and so she just said, "That boy, Jeremy said that I had been here for five weeks, is that true?"

"Yes, dear," said the nurse kindly. "It's a miracle you ever came out of that coma, you hadn't been fed for days and you were so badly injured among other things. The other girl didn't make it," she finished wistfully.

"Anna?" asked Lillie remembering the little girl with sandy-coloured hair.

"Yes, she passed away the night you both arrived; her mother and father were distraught. But back to you, I know Mr Potter told us not to notify any family, but is there anyone that you would like us to tell of your recovery?"

At that moment the boy called Jeremy stood up and turned around. She recognised the black, curly hair and the tanned skin as Jeremy Marlon's, Gill's older brother. Noticing her looking at him, Jeremy smiled at her and holding up the letter he winked. He had said something about his sister and Lillie knew that she could rely on Gill to make sure that everyone found out that she was OK. "I think Jeremy's letter will take care of that," said Lillie to the nurse before saying to Jeremy, "Tell Gill I say hi."

"I just finished the letter!" cried Jeremy but Lillie knew that he was joking and he returned to the mahogany desk.

…

**Gill's POV:**

Gill had just helped herself to toast and eggs when the post owls came in. She was sitting between Parvati and Ted Lupin, who had stopped hanging out with people in his own year but didn't speak to them either, and Chris was sitting opposite her. None of them spoke or even looked at each other but all four jumped when a beautiful black owl landed right in front of Gill, who recognised her brother's writing on the envelope. She knew her brother had shared a ward with Lillie ever since he had spilt Lorfet puss on his leg during Herbology and so dreading the worse she opened the letter.

_Dear Gill,_

_What's going on in the world, sis__? I am bored out of my mind here, nothing happens in the intensive care ward, well, not normally._ Gill's heart skipped a beat and she dropped the letter.

"What's wrong?" asked Parvati.

"Nothing," said Gill, before adding, "yet." She scrambled to pick up the letter from the floor and continued reading.

_Someone woke up today and I've got someone to talk to at last: Lillie! She woke up Gill! She's in a lot of pain but the nurse gave her a potion and she's talking and everything.__  
>Love<em>_  
>Jeremy<em>_  
>P.S. Lillie says hi.<em>

Lillie let out a sort of joyous yelp and threw her arms around Parvati who stammered but didn't say anything intelligible.

"What is it?" asked Chris.

"What's happened?" asked Ted.

"It's Lillie!" exclaimed Gill beaming. By now several other people, on the other side of Parvati, were looking at her too. Ted, Chris and Parvati were now staring intently at her. "She woke up! She woke up!" cried Gill.

There was a moment of silence. But then Ted Lupin stood and, taking her completely by surprise, hugged Gill tightly. This broke the silence and soon everyone was cheering, laughing and chatting merrily. Chris ran over to the Gryffindor table and told Richard, who told Michael Bilding, who told Victoire and soon enough the Gryffindors knew too. Jenny went over to the Slytherin table to tell her brother and evidently someone told the Hufflepuffs because by the beginning of first period, everyone seemed to know. Everyone was suddenly much more relaxed and the atmosphere for the rest of the week was infinitely better than it had been since the beginning of term; even Teddy had started hanging out with his own year again.

…

**Lillie's POV:**

Over the next few days Lillie got to know Jeremy Marlon quite well. She found him irritating at first but after a while she grew to like him, but considering that, apart from nurses and the occasional healer, he was the only company she had, that wasn't saying much. A few days after she had 'woken up', she had received a flurry of _Get well soon_ cards and they all covered her bedside table, except one from the McDougal twins which she had torn up due to its annoying habit of singing and dancing the conga in the middle of the night.

About a week after her unexpected recovery, Lillie was very glad to hear that she would be able to leave the following day, along with Jeremy. Professor Lugitte, Lillie's Charms teacher, would come and pick them up and they would floo back to Hogwarts.

"I don't see why we can't floo by ourselves, I mean, we've done it before," Jeremy said to Lillie, who shrugged. "Who is this Lugitte guy anyway?"

"He's my Charms teacher," said Lillie.

"Really? I've got Flitwick. He's really good," replied Jeremy.

"Isn't he about a hundred years old?" Lillie asked.

"Older," said Jeremy. "But don't underestimate him; they say he was a master dueller in his day." Lillie shrugged again.

…

The following day Lillie and Jeremy waited eagerly for Professor Lugitte. Meanwhile, a healer was giving them both instructions.

"Mr Marlon you must rub that in every morning for two weeks when you wake up or else it will canker," said the healer matter-of-factly while Jeremy grimaced at the lumpy grey bottle of ointment he was being offered.

"It looks like cat sick," he complained, but the healer glared at him and he subsided.

The healer then turned to Lillie and with a frown on his face said, "Now you are a little bit more complicated Miss Whitehead." Then he pulled out a small bag in which there were four large bottles and one small one filled with various pills, potions and powders.

The first one was filled with a golden-brown liquid, which she recognised as the pain-killing potion. The healer said, "This is for the pain, take one capful each morning and you'll be fine, as long as you don't do anything too rough."  
>The second was filled with luminous orange pills and the healer said, "Take one of these with each meal and it should prevent most infections; each one contains a tiny fragment of a bezoar."<br>The next bottle contained purple powder. "This one should help with the scarring," said the healer. "Put a spoonful in a glass of water in the morning when you wake up and then drink it before you go to bed."  
>The fourth bottle was a clear green potion which was warm to the touch. "You drink two capfuls of this at lunch, and another one an hour after dinner," said the healer. "This will stop the cuts from reopening."<br>"Now, as you know, that blade was cursed, and this bottle must be drunk at midnight on the new moon to prevent… well, not very nice things." The healer held up a tiny flask of what looked like tar.

Lillie glanced at Jeremy, who shrugged and said, "Rather you than me."

The healer once again started speaking: "Now the first four you have to take for a month but the last one," he indicated the small bottle of tarry potion "must be drunk at the new moon until… until whoever used that blade on you dies. I believe he is called Ezekielis Bamforth."

The healer looked at Lillie nervously, clearly expecting some sort of reaction, but Lillie couldn't be bothered to feel anxious or apprehensive at the moment and so she just nodded and said, "Okay." She realised that Ezekielis must be some relative of Mindy Bamforth in Slytherin.

"I've written down all those instructions down, in case you forget," said the healer and Lille nodded. The healer left.

Jeremy gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of medication," he said eyeing the plastic bag warily.

Lillie shrugged, "At least I get to go back. This is place is _so _boring."

"Tell me about it," said Jeremy. "I've been holed up here for twenty-five days.

At that moment Professor Lugitte walked in and smiled warmly at them. After a short greeting he led the two Ravenclaws down the corridor and into a small room covered in ash. After a bit Lillie realised that they were in a huge fireplace, probably so that stretchers could come straight here. Professor Lugitte walked over to a corner and took a fistful from a large pot on the wall. As he threw the powder onto the floor he cried, "Pouxdelard!"

The familiar green flames burst up around them and, even though Lillie knew that she was perfectly safe, a surge of fear passed through her body and she found herself remembering that cold tower room, Ezekielis and the red blade. The red blade moving towards her, digging into her skin, she screamed.

"Lillie!" someone cried distantly. "Lillie! What's wrong? Oh merde!"

Lillie opened her eyes, she found herself on the floor of a strange room, Professor Lugitte and Jeremy were standing over her but she didn't see them, she saw Ezekielis and Dulcia. Dimly she heard Professor Lugitte say to Jeremy, "Go get Madam Cunaxa."

"Lillie! Lillie can you hear me?" she heard Professor Lugitte's voice but she could only see Ezekielis. "Merde! Tu m'entends?" Once again she heard his voice and for a fleeting second she saw his warm face but it was soon replaced by Ezekielis' once more.

"No," moaned Lillie. "Please, no more."

"Lillie! You're safe! You're at Hogwarts, you're inside Hogwarts! You're safe, Lillie." Lillie felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her into an embrace and as quickly as it had come Ezekielis' face, the blade and the tower were gone; they were replaced by black robes.

Lillie sobbed into Professor Lugitte's chest for a full minute while the Charms professor tried to comfort her. Then the door was burst open by Jeremy who was followed by a terrified looking Madam Cunaxa, the school nurse and matron. Professor Lugitte gently released Lillie, who was still sobbing uncontrollably.

"The poor girl's traumatised," said Madam Cunaxa.

"Jeremy, you can go," said Professor Lugitte and Jeremy reluctantly left. "I think it was the floo," he then said to the matron. "That was when it started, she screamed and sort of went into a…how do you say?"

"Fit?" suggested Madam Cunaxa and Professor Lugitte nodded. "Nothing we can do but wait until it passes, I'm afraid," she said.

It was several minutes before Lillie had gained full control of herself at which point she was handed a chocolate frog by Madam Cunaxa. "Eat up," she said. "It will help."

Lillie ate the chocolate frog and then looked up at Madam Cunaxa and then at Professor Lugitte who was still sitting beside her. "What happens now?" she asked.

"Nothing happens for now," said Madam Cunaxa. "It's trauma there's not much we can do, only it's probably best if you stayed away from floo." Lillie shuddered and nodded. "Now it's almost third hour what do you have now?"

"Me," said Professor Lugitte.

"Very well then, I'll leave you to it," she said and left the room.

"Are you ready," asked Professor Lugitte kindly.

Lillie nodded before saying, "Thank you." Professor Lugitte said nothing but just smiled. "I'd better go get my books, Sir," said Lillie.

"No, you won't be needing them, it's a practical lesson today," said Professor Lugitte.

"Sir, why did you say 'Pouxdelard' back there instead of Hogwarts?" asked Lillie, as curiosity got the better of her.

Professor Lugitte laughed, "I'm French. If I said 'Hogwarts who know where we would have been," he explained.

When they reached the classroom Professor Lugitte left Lillie out in the corridor. A few minutes later the bell rang for the end of break and almost simultaneously Chris walked round the corner he looked angry and dejected. Lillie smiled for the first time in weeks. "Hey," she said. Chris looked up. His face changed completely going first to astonishment, then to disbelief and finally a broad grin spread across his face. Lillie had missed that grin she looked into his eyes, the eyes that had given her strength during her imprisonment.

Chris dropped his books and an ink pot smashed on the floor but neither of them cared. Chris ran the last few feet between them and he pulled Lillie into a huge hug. "Jeremy Marlon said that you…" he started but trailed off.

"Bergh, that's disgusting, Timberlake," said a voice from the end of the corridor. Chris and Lillie stepped apart before looking towards the source of the voice: Mindy Bamforth and standing next to her was her usual crony, Katy Carroll.

Chris looked like he was about to charge at the girls but Lillie stepped in front of him and, putting all the venom, all the anger and all the pain she had felt over the past weeks into her voice, said, "Muddy's back, Bamforth. That knucklehead Ezekielis couldn't finish me off."

Mindy took a step back she had not expected the small girl to seem so dangerous. "How _dare_ you talk about like my father like that! You filthy mudblood!" she cried.

Professor Lugitte chose that moment to step out of the classroom. "150 points from Slytherin, Bamforth," he said. "You will also have detention and now go see the Headmistress and tell her _word for word_ what you said." Lillie had never seen Professor Lugitte look this way, he looked extremely and dangerous his voice was so threatening that Mindy's face went completely white and she ran away towards the Headmistress' office. "Okay, you can come in," he said, and he had completely returned to normal.

Chris gathered up his books and then the three people who were still there entered the classroom; Katy Carroll went to her desk at the front while Chris and Lillie went to theirs which was right at the back. The next people to arrive where the McDougal twins when they saw Lillie they both cried "LILLIE!" at the top of their voices and came rushing over to her.

Soon everyone was in the classroom; most people came over to speak to Lillie who was becoming a bit overwhelmed but luckily Professor Lugitte called the class to order.

The next lesson was supposed to be Transfiguration but because no replacement for Professor Selwyn had been found yet they were given a free period.

By dinner, Lillie had seen pretty much everyone who she wanted to see, Victoire in particular had been keen to hear everything and Lillie had assured her that she would tell her everything during their free period tomorrow morning. She had seen everyone except Teddy, she had tried to find him at lunch but she couldn't spot him and when she asked Jeremy about it he said that he hadn't seen Teddy since that morning when he had told him about Lillie's fit that morning.

After dinner Lillie went into the grounds, sure that she knew where Teddy would be. She passed the Quidditch pitch where she could see the Hufflepuff team practising. Eventually she reached the bank of lake and headed for a tree where she could see a silhouette sitting with his back against the tree.

The sun gave Theodore Remus Lupin a golden lining but Lillie could tell that his normally healthy complexion had gone sickly grey and his hair had become black. Lillie was only a few feet away from him when Teddy noticed her standing there.

"Lillie? But Jeremy said that you-" he started.

"I'm absolutely fine," she said.

Teddy got up and slowly moved towards her, as he did so, Lillie saw the colour flood back into his skin and his hair went from black to an almost gold colour before he hugged Lillie so tightly that she felt like she was about to break. "Steady on, Ted," she spluttered and Teddy immediately released her looking at her nervously. "I'm not hurt, don't worry. Just a bit fragile." She grinned and so did Teddy.

"Tell me everything," said Teddy simply before sitting back down by the tree and patting the ground beside him. Lillie told him everything. She spoke for an hour and when they finally went back inside they found that it was nearly curfew. They rushed towards the common room and once in Lillie went into her dormitory while Teddy carried on up the stairs to his own.

Upon entering the girl's dormitory Lillie was bombarded with questions, but saying something about being tired she ran over to her corner of the room where she got changed and got into bed. Remembering that she had to start taking her medication tomorrow she took out the appropriate bottles.

…

Three weeks later it was the last day of term and the girls dormitory was completely hectic as all the girls packed up their stuff before heading down to the end of year feast. Lillie had packed all of her stuff into the old battered suitcase although she had no idea where she was going for the holidays, just that she was going.

On the way down the stairs she bumped into Victoire who was bouncing around looking prettier than ever. "Lillie," she said, "there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Why?" asked Lillie.

"To tell you that you're coming to stay at my house for the holidays, of course," said Victoire as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Are you serious?" asked Lillie, astounded.

"Of course I am! My parents are cool with it so you're coming. Although," she eyed Lillie's hair, "we are going to _have _to do something about your hair, you just can't keep it all unbrushed like that."

Lillie laughed. "If you say so," said Lillie and the two girls headed down to the feast together, Victoire gossiping all the way.

The feast was, if possible, better than the beginning of year feast and when Professor McGonagall stood up Lillie was feeling very full and happy. Silence fell across the hall and Professor McGonagall began to speak.

"As the school year draws to an end, I have nothing left to say apart from to reveal to you the final result of the house cup." There were excited murmurings around the hall but a stern cough from Professor McGonagall and they stopped at once.

"In fourth place with 216 points: Slytherin." There was a groan from the Slytherin table before the Headmistress continued. "In third place with 458 points: Ravenclaw." Another groan. "In second place with 599 points: Hufflepuff." A small happy murmur was erupting from the Gryffindor table as Professor McGonagall said, "In first place with 607 points: Gryffindor."

The murmur grew into a cheer but McGonagall held up her hand and the bemused Gryffindors looked back at their Headmistress, along with everyone else. "There are however, some things that have gone unrewarded. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the story of young Miss Lillian Whitehead. If you are not, well I'm not about to go into it now." Lillie was momentarily relieved, but she went scarlet anyway as everyone around her started looking towards her. "The staff and I have discussed the events and have decided to afford Miss Whitehead 150 points for courage, strength while under torture and preventing the return of a great evil." Lillie blushed even more but several people on the Ravenclaw table had started cheering and the people around her patted her back. Professor McGonagall began to speak again, "This puts Ravenclaw house on 608 points and they therefore win the house cup."

The cheer that rose from the Ravenclaw table was deafening and Lillie started to laugh and cheer along with everyone else. But she started blushing again when she heard a chant of "LILLIE! LILLIE!" rising from the table.

…

Lillie rode with Teddy and Victoire towards the station and the three were in a compartment with Gill and Jeremy and eventually Sienna Marlon.

When the train pulled into King's Cross Lillie got the feeling that this summer was going to be much better than the last. Admittedly she had been tortured, but in the end it meant that she wouldn't have to spend the summer with Dulcia but instead she could stay with Victoire and the Weasleys. There was always a silver lining.

Or so she thought. Waiting for her on the platform, was none other than Dulcia Selwyn who grabbed Lillie's wrist the moment she stepped onto the platform. Lillie felt the feeling that she was being shoved through a tight rubber tube. Before she knew what had happened Lillie once again found herself on the floor of the room where it had all began, where she had first heard about Hogwarts.

But surely she couldn't be given back to Dulcia; surely she must have been arrested. Lillie's hopes were dashed when later that evening Dulcia's head popped in around the door and said, "Dinner my little acid pop," before throwing a lump of stale bread into the room.

**A/N:**

**We haven't seen the last of Dulcia! *evil laugh***

**Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed.**

**Thanks to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl.**

**Sorry for any typos.**

**End of first year, soon it's going to be second year. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on the second year, but as for the third year, I cannot say.**

**Review if you have time.**

**And HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


	15. And Then Nothing Happened

Silver Lining

Chapter 15: And Then…. Nothing Happened

The long days passed without event for Lillie, she had no one to talk to, even the portrait of Barnabas had been taken out. The only human contact she ever had was Dulcia head in the door three times a day; she would throw in a lump of staled bread and then leave without a word, locking the door behind her. Every day Lillie expected to be whisked away back to that tower but nothing ever happened.

She slept uneasily most nights, her dreams kept returning to Ezekielis and she would wake up covered in sweat convinced that she was going to be back in the tower.

…

At shell cottage, however things were very different. Victoire had not stopped worrying about Lillie since the beginning of the summer holiday five weeks previously; she was so worried, in fact, that she had stopped putting on make-up. For Victoire this was big and it did not take her parents long to work out that something was wrong.

"We need to do something about Victoire," Bill said to his wife one morning. They were alone, Victoire was up in her room and Dominique was on the beach with Louis.

"She is so worried," said Fleur. "But how can we cheer her up?"

"We could always go and see Ginny and Harry. I think Ron and Hermione are there too they usually are," suggested Bill.

"Ginny? Harry? Why?" Fleur asked her husband.

"Well Harry's head of the Aurors, so he might know something about the whole situation and also, Teddy might be there; you know how well they get on, maybe he can cheer her up," explained Bill.

Fleur looked at Bill's scarred face for a second before agreeing. "I will go and fetch Dominique and Louis, you go get Victoire," she said. Fleur Weasley got up and glided out the back door, her silvery-blonde hair lifted slightly by the small wind.

Sighing, Bill got up and headed up the stairs to his eldest daughter's room. He knew that Victoire was awake but she did not respond when he knocked so he pushed the door open and walked into the room.

The room was a mess. Victoire had always been a relatively tidy child especially when it came to clothes. However, today, there were clothes strewn everywhere, on the floor, hanging on the back of doors even on the windowsill. The only place that wasn't a total tip was the bed, which Victoire was sitting on.

Bill had never seen his daughter look like this, her face had a scrubbed look and her hair, which hadn't been combed for five weeks, had clumped together in thick strand making it look like a dozen blonde snakes were protruding from her skull.

When her father entered Victoire looked up. "Hey daddy," she muttered.

"Hi darling," said Bill softly. "Are you alright?" Victoire nodded but didn't say anything. "We're going to the Potters, so you might want to get changed."

Victoire spoke in a small voice, "I'm not coming."

"Yes you are, Vicky," said Bill putting a slight not of command into his gentle tone.

"I don't want to," complained Victoire.

"Well you're coming," said Bill, "whether you want to or not. You've barely come out of your room this holiday and I know that you're worried about your friend but you need to get out more. Your mother and I are starting to worry."

"But-" started Victoire.

"No 'buts'," said Bill. "Besides Harry might know something, he is head Auror."

"Fine," said Victoire grumpily.

"See you downstairs in ten," said Bill before leaving the room.

In the corridor he was nearly run over by Dominique and Louis who were obviously very happy to go and see the Potters. Bill thought about Victoire, he had been surprised by how easy it had been to convince her to come and he knew this was another sign of her feelings.

Ten minutes later, the five inhabitants of shell cottage were lined up in front of the fireplace and a minute later they were at Harry and Ginny's house.

As Bill had expected, Ron and Hermione were there. Hermione went to fetch Harry and Ginny while Ron greeted everyone.

"Didn't expect to see you here Billy," Ron said grinning at his older brother.

"Well I knew you'd be here Ronny," retorted Bill, also grinning. "We actually came because Vicky's been a bit down lately because of something that happened to her friend Lillie."

"And to cheer her up you thought you'd buy Harry a visit?" asked Ron looking a little bemused.

"No," said Bill. "Well, actually yeah. We thought Harry might know something," he explained before adding, "and we also hoped that Teddy might be able to cheer her up."

"Harry probably knows quite a lot," said Ron. "But Teddy's a no-go, he's here at the moment but he's on a short fuse. So try not to mention Lillie in front of him. It's bad enough as it is what with Harry's daughter being called Lily."

"Damn," said Bill.

"Bill!" came a voice from the door and a second later Bill's younger sister Ginny had come up to Bill and hugged him.

"Hey Ginny," said Bill, but before he could say anything else there was a chorus of "Uncle Bill! Auntie Fleur!" and five children rushed over. Harry also came in and called a greeting but it was lost amid the noises of the seven excited children, Victoire had remained silent.

Then Teddy came in, the thirteen year old looked grouchy and surly even more so then Victoire and, like Victoire, he did not join in with all the greetings but just stood at the back of the room.

Breakfast had just been made and as always, Ginny had made plenty extra. She always did this because her six older brothers would often drop in with their families at any moment like Bill and Fleur had done.

During breakfast Bill told Harry the true purpose for his visit and afterwards Harry asked the two oldest children to stay behind to help clear away.

Once all the other children had left the room and before anyone else could say anything Victoire cried, "Why is Victoire still with that horrible old hag?"

"How come she isn't in Azkaban?" asked Teddy, joining in.

The two then bombarded the six adults with questions until finally Hermione managed to calm them down.

"First of all, I completely agree that Dulcia Selwyn is a horrible old hag who deserves to be locked up," said Harry.

"Then why isn't she?" asked Teddy.

"I'm getting there," said Harry. "Dulcia Selwyn is a very rich woman with very good connections. On top of that she had one of the best lawyers, someone called Blaise Zabini, in the country defending her. Blaise claimed that Dulcia hadn't actually done anything herself, he claimed that it was Lucretius Selwyn who had captured her, Yorath who had imprisoned her and Ezekielis who harmed her. So with that and I suspect several generous 'donations', Dulcia got off on a technicality."

When Harry had finished his speech he looked back at the two kids standing in front of him: Victoire looked a little lost but Teddy looked angry again. "That still doesn't tell us why she can just take Lillie away like that," he said.

"She's her legal guardian, it's her choice where she goes," said Ron, speaking up for the first time.

"But we know she's okay, or we're pretty sure she is. We don't reckon that Dulcia Selwyn is going to try anything else for a while," continued Harry.

This time it was Hermione who spoke, "We've got an appeal in to change her guardian already."

"To who?" Victoire asked.

"We're not sure," said Hermione. "That will be decided if the appeal is accepted."

The rest of the afternoon was spent in a much lighter mood as Victoire and Teddy were almost happy. That evening before Victoire went to bed, she cleaned up her room, she did not know how she could have lived in such a _dump_ for five weeks.

She went downstairs to say goodnight to her parents, something which she hadn't done for a very long time. As she was about to leave the small sitting room her father called her back.

"Victoire, wait! I almost forgot, Harry gave me this to give to you, I think it's Lillie's address, you can use Rufus."

"Thanks dad," said Victoire. On her way out she stopped next to a birdcage and took out their large orange owl Rufus.

As she left the room she thought she heard her mother say, "I would very much like to meet this Lillie."

"When she went back to her room, she headed straight for the small desk-cum-makeup-stand and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill and an ink pot.

_Dear Lillie,_

_I just visited my uncle Harry and he gave me your address. I really hope you're alright, I've been so worried about you, but Harry said that you're fine. I hope for his sake that he's right. I have been living like a tramp for the past five weeks; I haven't even brushed my hair! That's how worried I've been. I'm so dirty I feel like Samantha Brandon. But that's not important._

_Write back as soon as you get this!_

_Victoire_

Victoire looked back at the letter, it was short and to the point, not like her at all, but that didn't matter. She placed the parchment inside a letter and tied it to Rufus' leg. "Make sure this goes to Lillie and no one else. Once she has it make sure she writes back, okay?" she whispered to the owl. Who hooted merrily and soared out of the open window and into the night.

…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lillie woke up with a start looking around wildly to see what was making the noise.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Lillie looked at the window. "Rufus," she called quietly, so as not to disturb anyone or anything that might be lurking in the house.

'Tap,' came the answer.

Lillie clambered out of her bed and tiptoed over to the window. Sure enough, sitting on her windowsill was Rufus. Lillie had seen him deliver post to Victoire very often and she knew the owl quite well. She opened the window and the owl hopped in.

Lillie untied the letter from the owl's leg and read it in the light of the moon because she didn't have any other light in her room. Due to the bad light and her sleepy eyes Lillie struggled to decipher the message.

Once she had finally finished reading it she went back to bed deciding to leave the return letter for the following day. Rufus, however, had other plans: he pecked Lillie continually and it was only when Lillie had tricked him into flying into the bathroom that she could finally get some shut-eye.

As usual she was woken up the following morning by a hunk of bread landing on her bed; it seemed that her great-aunt's aim had improved for this time the loaf hit her in the stomach. Lillie eyed the bread warily checking for mould. When she had pruned the bread down to the edible bits she through the rest out of the window where they would be hungrily wolfed down by a few magpies later that day.

Eventually she headed over to the desk against the wall opposite her bed and pulled out a small slip of parchment. She quickly scribbled down a note informing Victoire that she was fine. Apart from the fact that she had been in one room eating only bread for the past five weeks this was true, after all, she hadn't been tortured or hurt in anyway. Besides, she didn't want to make Victoire worry any more than she already was; Lillie realised how worried she must be if she wasn't brushing her hair: Victoire _always_ brushed her hair.

Lillie let the owl out of the bathroom; he flapped angrily at her for a while but calmed down slightly when Lillie held up the letter. He stood grumpily on one leg as she tied the small envelope to the other and he hooted reproachfully when Lillie had finished before he flew away.

Lillie watched him go a little sadly: Rufus was the closest she had come to a conversation for weeks. She was also a little jealous of the bird: Lillie would have dearly loved to spread her wings and fly away from the horrible room. But, she would have to stay here for three more weeks, and that was only if Dulcia allowed her to go back to Hogwarts.

So Lillie returned to her bed and started perusing through her school books. She flicked to the very back of the Transfiguration textbook and looked at the spells that were listed there; she knew that they were well beyond her reach, but even so she really wanted to try them.

But then again, she wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school so she couldn't even do basic spells that she knew already. She thought back to Teddy explaining it to her, "Underage witched and wizards have something called the trace put on them," he had said. "If you use magic outside of school when you're not seventeen they can detect."

Then Lillie had asked what happened when they detected it and Teddy had said, "Someone from the Ministry comes to warn you, I think."

Lillie stared at the wall; a plan had begun to form in her mind and a small smile crept across her face. She would perform magic! Just a simple spell and then someone from the ministry would come and then… What would she do then? She could deal with that when it came to it.

Lillie got up and darted to her dresser. She threw the meagre contents of the drawers into her old battered suitcase. She wasn't sure why she was packing, but she had a feeling that, if everything went smoothly she might be leaving Selwyn Mansion three weeks earlier than she could possibly have hoped.

Lillie picked up her wand and pointed it at the remainders of the bread. "Wingardium Leviosa," she said calmly and the bread hovered a few inches off the ground. Lillie gave a satisfied smile. "And now we wait," she said to herself.

…

It had been a boring few weeks at the ministry for Fleur Weasley; she hadn't actually done anything since the 20th of July, so when she walked into her office that morning she was pleasantly surprised to see a lilac assignment sheet on her small desk. Her heart sank, however, when she saw what it was: a simple case of underage magic.

Sighing, she sat down and pulled a quill, ink and parchment from various drawers of her desk. She had only just started at the ministry so it was natural that she got all the boring jobs. When the eagle-feather quill was glistening with shiny black ink Fleur began to write.

_Dear…_

That was as far as she got for then she noticed the name and residence written on the lilac assignment sheet: Lillian Whitehead, Selwyn Mansion. Fleur stood up with a smile playing on her lips; she decided to take the matter into her own hands and turning on the spot, she disapparated with a loud crack.

A second later she appeared beside a pair of wrought black iron gated. Fleur tested them, they were unlocked and so she pushed them open and stepped onto the gravel path leading up to the front door of an enormous mansion. It was built of pale grey stone and the large ornate windows were few and far between and the roof was lined with gargoyles that looked far too real for Fleur's liking. The garden was extensive, filled with statues, fountains and flowers.

Fleur made her way up the path until she reached the large ebony door. There was a silver serpent knocker which looked like it was polished every ten minutes and the door was adorned with intricate patterns that made Fleur's head swim.

She knocked once with the serpent's head and she felt the knock reverberate throughout the entire house. A minute later a woman, who Fleur assumed must be Dulcia Selwyn appeared at the door.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she spat.

"Hello, my name is Marianne Courtois," Fleur said. She decided to use a fake name because she got the feeling that this woman was not a fan of the Weasley family. "I have come to collect Lillian Whitehead," she continued.

Dulcia's eyes narrowed and she gazed suspiciously at Fleur before asking, "Why?"

"She has broken the law and needs to be punished," said Fleur.

"Broke the law! How?" cried Dulcia, her voice an excited screech.

"She used magic. We punish underage sorcery very heavily these days," said Fleur.

An evil twinkle appeared in Dulcia's eye and she smirked. "Will you keep her?" she asked maliciously. It was plain to Fleur that this woman wanted to get rid of Lillie but did not want her great-niece to have any fun.

"But of course," said Fleur, deciding to appeal to Dulcia's sadistic side. "No worthy punishment can last any less than a week."

"My sentiments exactly," said Dulcia. "Well Madame Courtois, I will go and fetch her for you."

Fleur put on the nastiest smile that she could and said, "Tell her to pack a bag."

…

When Lillie heard the sound of approaching footsteps, she was more optimistic than usual; she knew it was far too early for lunch and so she was sure that it was something to do with her magic. Sure enough when Dulcia put her head round the door she spoke instead of throwing in bread. "Well, well my little acid pop, we have been naughty, haven't we? Underage magic tut, tut. There's a very good lady waiting for you at the front door." Lillie swallowed, Dulcia's idea of very nice was not the same as most people's, so Lillie could not help but feel apprehensive.

As Dulcia was about to leave she added, "She says that you need to pack a bag." Then she left the room, cackling maniacally all the way down the corridor.

Lillie had already packed her bag but it still took her a while to find the front door; she did not know the way and the house was so large that she kept having to ask portraits, some of which deliberately sent her the wrong way. Finally she reached the large main hall of the house. Lillie descended the grand staircase and saw an extremely beautiful woman standing in the door.

"Lillian Whitehead?" the woman asked in a French accent. Lillie said nothing but nodded once. "Come with me," said the woman before leading the way down the gravel path.

Once they had passed through the wrought iron gates the woman pointed her wand at Lillie's suitcase and with a pop it disappeared. "Hello, Lillie," said the woman. "My name is Fleur Weasley; I believe you know my daughter Victoire."

Lillie looked at the woman in astonishment; she winked back at Lillie and taking hold of her arm, the pair disapparated with a loud crack.

**Author's note:**

**Where to begin! First off thanks go to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl, my original inspiration.**

**Secondly I would like to thank all the people who responded to my PMs and reviewed/favorited my story, you guys are awesome.**

**I would also particularly like to thank people like Zheba89, loralu, alibella731 and many others whose constructive reviews really helped me to build this chapter.**

**As usual forgive any typos and grammatical errors.**

**Sorry that it's such a short chapter but not a lot happens in it sorry I didn't want to drag it out.**

**Please review, it makes me leap for joy (no seriously there is actual leaping).**

**WTCST- over and out.**


	16. The Second Year: Beginnings

Silver Lining

Chapter 15: The Second Year: Beginnings

When the uncomfortable feeling of apparating was over, Lillie could smell salt in the air, and when she looked around she understood why: they were standing on the edge of a small sandy beach. Ten or so metres away from them, there was a large cottage, Lillie assumed that this was Shell Cottage; Victoire had spoken about it a lot over the past year.

There was a disgruntled hoot and looking up Lillie saw Rufus flying overhead with a letter tied to his leg. Lillie wondered vaguely if it was the letter she had given him earlier that day. It was strange thinking that Rufus had been in her room that day; it had felt like much longer.

Fleur had started walking towards the house and realising that Lillie wasn't following her she turned around and called, "Are you coming, Lillie? Or do you want to stay out here tonight?"

"Sorry," said Lillie coming back to the present. "I'm coming." She hurried after Fleur.

…

Victoire was sitting up in her room trying to untie a letter from a very excited Rufus' leg. Victoire herself was excited, she had not been sure if Lillie would get the letter, but it was definitely her handwriting on the folded parchment.

"Vicky," she heard her father call up from the kitchen but she ignored him; whatever he wanted could wait until after Lillie's letter. "Vicky, come downstairs," he called again.

"In a minute," she replied.

This time it was her mother's voice that rang up from the kitchen, "Victoire! Descends maintenant!"

"Coming," cried Victoire. She didn't dare disobey her mother, and she had finally managed to untie Lillie's letter from Rufus. She unfurled it as she walked down the stairs, when she reached the kitchen she was reading the letter and didn't look up. When she had finished the extremely short note Lillie looked up and the question that she had been about to ask died in her throat and instead she just said, "Lillie? I- How? You look terrible."

Lillie gave a short laugh; it was such a Victoire thing to do to comment on her appearance, but it was true she did look terrible. Her hair was tangled and dirty; there was no shampoo or hairbrush in her tiny bathroom, she was terribly thin; the effects of living off stale bread for five weeks and her skin was almost grey because she hadn't been outside all summer. "I know," she laughed.

Lillie had never felt this happy since her family's death, her escape from Selwyn Mansion had actually worked, she had never expected that. It was with great gusto that she ate her first warm breakfast for weeks with one of her best friends, but when Victoire offered her a bed in her room, Lillie stubbornly refused and eventually Fleur gave her a tiny room at the back of the house, which Lillie dearly loved.

…

Lillie's first week went by in a blur of joy; Fleur had insisted that Lillie spend as much time as possible, though Lillie suspected that this was also an attempt to get her eldest child outside.

About a hundred metres from the house, which looked much smaller from the outside, Lillie found what seemed to be a small gravestone. There was an inscription on it, but the sea breeze had eradicated most of it; all that Lillie could see were the words 'Dobby' and 'free', she assumed that 'Dobby' must be a name, because it wasn't a word that Lillie recognised from any language.

"What are you doing over there?" called Victoire, her blonde hair reflecting the red light from the setting sun into Lillie's face making her squint. Victoire had decided to cut her hair dramatically, the once waist length silvery-blonde locks now barely tickled her ears.

"Not much," Lillie said, shaking her head slightly. "I just found…" Lillie did not continue but wiped her eyes.

"That's Dobby's grave," panted Victoire as she reached the top of the dune. Lillie didn't speak; she made a sort of 'oh' noise and looked away from an oblivious Victoire, who started talking again. "Dobby was a house-elf, that's all I know. My uncle Harry never tells us anything more and if _Harry_ won't then Ron and Hermione could never-," Victoire stopped. "Lillie? What's wrong?" She had finally noticed Lillie's silence.

"Graves," choked Lillie, fighting back sobs. Victoire didn't know what Lillie meant, but she wasn't kept waiting for very long. "My parents' graves, Vicky! And Milo, little Milo-bear. I suppose they have graves now."

Victoire was about to say, "Yes." But she thought better of it; Lillie hardly ever spoke of her parents and Victoire didn't want to offend her when she was in this state, not to mention she was curious.

"I've never been," gurgled Lillie as the sobs clawed their way up her throat. "I don't even know where they are! I miss them, so much. Oh God!"

Victoire froze, she had never seen Lillie in such state and didn't know what to do, there were no tears yet, but there might as well have been; Lillie had curled up into a ball on the ground her wavy chestnut hair giving her a strange sort of halo.

Victoire stooped down beside her head and stroked her awkwardly on the head. Eventually, Lillie stopped shaking, and she sat up, still not looking directly at Victoire. "Sorry," she mumbled, her voice sounding unnaturally normal.

"You'll find them," Victoire reassured her. "Don't worry Lillie, you'll find them, we'll find them together."

Lillie sniffed and smiled slightly. "I think your mum's calling us back," said Lillie for Fleur was standing on the patio of Shell Cottage waving at them.

…

The next week passed without further incident and on the 24th August, the Hogwarts letters arrived, but Lillie felt only a short burst of excitement. The 24th was the day that… She stopped herself thinking about it, she did not want anyone to see her crying and so she pretended that everything was alright; she had always prided herself on her acting. This was just another play, a play that would last until she was shut up in her tiny room at the back of the house.

"Ooh, we're allowed brooms this year!" Victoire exclaimed. Lillie pretended to be excited and looked at her own list; it was pretty much the same as the previous year's only this year they needed the _Standard book of Spells: Grade 2_ instead of grade 1.

"You can have my old broom Vicky," said Bill.

"Don't be silly, chérie," said Fleur. "We will get you a new one when we go to Diagon Alley."

"When are we going to Diagon Alley?" squealed Victoire.

"Saturday," said Fleur. "We're meeting the Potters, the Weasleys, the Weasleys, the Weasleys, the Weasleys and the Weasleys."

"Wait, what?" asked Lillie, thoroughly confused.

"All five of my younger brothers are married and they have families, remembering names gets quite hard," explained Bill.

Lillie gulped, she knew that Victoire had a lot of cousins but this was getting ridiculous.

"And the Lupin," added Fleur.

"Teddy?" asked Victoire and Lillie together; Fleur nodded. Lillie had missed Teddy more than anyone else, while she had been dying of boredom back in Gloucestershire, at the full moon her thoughts had turned to him and, although she would never admit it, she had cried a little bit.

…

Saturday came quickly and while everyone else was taking the floo to Flourish and Blott's Lillie had to go through the uncomfortable and overly-familiar procedure of apparating on Bill's arm.

When they arrived, it didn't take long to pick up the necessary books and while Bill took Dominique and Louis to the apothecary to buy some ingredients for Victoire and Lillie while Fleur took the girls to get some new robes. As well as three set of plain black school robes, Lillie also got a set of ankle-length lilac robes and another greeny-grey set, which were slightly shorter.

After the shopping was over, Bill had gotten Victoire's broom while she was trying on a hundred different robes, they headed up the street to a café that Lillie hadn't noticed before. It was unobtrusive; grey walls and small windows adorned its front but when they entered, Lillie saw that the place was heaving.

Most of the customers seemed to have red hair, and Lillie realised that this must be the extended Weasley family. The greetings took a very long time and Lillie wished she had brought a notebook.

First of all there was Charlie, who was married to a young Romanian lady, Maya; they had one child, Alexandra.  
>Then there was Percy. Percy was married to an auburn-haired woman called Audrey and they had two daughters, Molly, who was starting at Hogwarts that year and Lucy.<br>Then there were the twins. The one with out the ear, Lillie couldn't remember which one he was, was married to a dark woman called Angelina and they had Fred and Roxanne. The other twin was married to another dark woman called Alicia Spinnet and their two children were George and Wendy.  
>Ron was married to Hermione, and they had two children: Rose and Hugo.<br>Last but not least, Ginny was married to Harry, and they had three children, James, Albus and Lily.

Lily, the youngest of the children at three, was very happy to meet Lillie and spent a lot of time pointing out that they were both called Lily/Lillie.

Once they had all walked in the door, a woman with greying brown hair and heavy-lidded eyes came into the small shop accompanied by "Teddy!"

Lillie ran over to the boy and hugged him; Victoire, spotting what had excited Lillie so much followed her and also hugged Teddy, who had gone a lovely shade of pink. Gripping Lillie's shoulders, Teddy's dark eyes fixed onto Lillie's hazel ones and without blinking he asked, "Are you okay?"

Lillie was about to lie when she realised, she wasn't lying, she really did feel okay. "Yes, I'm absolutely fine. Better than fine, I haven't felt better since…" she trailed off. The broad grin that had been growing on her face faded for a second, but she soon fixed it back on.

Teddy, however, seemed satisfied, and his dark eyes changed to palest blue, which took Lillie by surprise. She knew about Teddy's strange ability, but it still took her by surprise. Looking back at the boy, it seemed as though a cloud that had been hanging above his head had just blown away, and he rushed over to the clamour of redheads and greeted each one happily.

Turning back, Lillie saw the heavy-lidded woman smiling slightly. "Thank you," she said to Lillie in a very posh voice that quite took Lillie aback. Lillie's unasked question was answered, "He hasn't been this happy in weeks; look his hair is golden again. I'm Andromeda, by the way, Teddy's grandmamma. No need to tell me who you are, Lillie. Now run along and join the fun, tell Teddy I'll come and meet him at the platform. Tata, I would stay but these Weasleys are rather too much for me."

The woman walked away, high-heels clicking behind her and Lillie, a little speechless after that monologue turned back to face the 'fun'. She could understand why it was too much for an elderly woman like Andromeda; Fred and George junior were in the middle of telling a joke, and they were being very lively about it. This did not stop Lillie, who had spent a lot of time, too much time, with the McDougal twins and she dived right into the proceedings.

Teddy didn't seem particularly sad when Lillie told him about his grandmother. "I'll see her tomorrow," he said.

"You can come stay at ours, Teddy," offered Victoire. "Can't he dad."

"Ask your mother," said Bill who was sitting beside her.

Victoire rolled her eyes and taking a deep breath cried, "Mum!"

"Yes," came seven voices and everyone turned to look down their end of the table.

There was a pause which was interrupted by Lily, who was sitting next to Lillie, saying, "But _I'm_ called Lily and _you're _called Lillie."

Everyone laughed and Fleur came over to them, "What is it chérie?"

"Can Teddy, come stay at our house?" asked Lillie.

Her mother sighed but eventually said, "Fine, but Lillie, you will have to move in with Victoire."

"No!" exclaimed Lillie, stubbornly. "Teddy can move in with Victoire."

"Excuse me?" asked Victoire outraged. "No way! Teddy's a boy Lil."

Lillie stubbornly refused to move out of her room and only accepted when Fleur pronounced that they would all be sleeping outside in a tent. The rest of the day passed well enough; when they got back to Shell Cottage, they found Teddy's stuff waiting in the lawn for them. "She is such a clever lady your grandmother," said Fleur.

Lillie grumpily moved her stuff into Victoire's room and then went downstairs for a chess tournament, which was surprisingly fun; Bill narrowly beat Dominique in the final. Fleur sent them all upstairs to check that everything was packed; Victoire, who was normally very diligent about packing was suspiciously quick and she rushed back downstairs.

Half an hour later, when Lillie joined the Weasleys and Lupin in the kitchen she was met with a big surprise: "Happy birthday!"

Lillie hadn't mentioned to anyone that it was her birthday, so she suspected that it was the reason that Victoire had left so quickly. There was a cake floating in the middle of the room and twelve small white candles with silver linings were protruding from it. "Thanks!" cried Lillie. The cake was left largely uneaten, because everyone was still full from that afternoon but soon enough the cards were out and games of exploding snap erupted into life. It was only when Louis fell asleep that Fleur sent them all to bed.

The next morning, the rest of the cake was eaten and the trunks were bundled into the enlarged back of a car. Once Bill, Victoire, Teddy and Lillie were all inside (Fleur had stayed behind to look after Dominique and Louis), Bill turned around to face them and with a grin on his face he told them that this car had been a gift from his father. Then he started trundling up the hill.

The strange thing was, when they reached the top of the hill, the car just kept going up. Lillie didn't notice this at first but when she looked out of the window beyond Teddy, she screamed as she saw that they were about two hundred metres off the ground.

"Merlin!" cried Bill, turning to look at Lillie which made the whole car tilt sickeningly to the left. "What's wrong?"

"I- I was just a little surprised," said Lillie, regaining her composure.

"Alright," muttered Bill readjusting the tilt. "I should probably turn the invisibility booster on," he added, more to himself than anyone. He punched a button on the dashboard and then the car disappeared.

Lillie closed her eyes bracing herself for the descent, but I never came. She opened her eyes and looked around her; the car had gone, but she was still floating in the air. She looked to her right, and after a while, she could make out the rough shape of Victoire, as though she were a heat haze.

Soon enough, Lillie's eyes completely adjusted and she could make out all the rough shapes of the car, nevertheless, she closed her eyes and didn't open them again until they were safely back on the ground.

…

Lillie was looking for an empty compartment on the train; Victoire and Teddy were still among the extended Weasley clan and Lillie had gone ahead to find seats, when she bumped into none other than Mindy Bamforth, who as usual was with Katy Carroll. "Whitehead," said Mindy curtly.

"Mindy!" said Lillie in a falsely happy voice. "How was your summer? How's dad?"

A vein pulsed in the large girl's temple, and her fists clenched. "Don't you dare," she said before muttering something that sounded distinctly like, "Filthy mudblood."

"Mindy," said a falsely scathing voice, exaggerating each syllable, "there's no need for that."

"Buzz off, Calloway," said Katy Carroll, talking for the first time.

"I'd love to," said the voice. "Come on Lillie." Lillie turned to face Calloway, and came face to face with a dark girl with black hair pulled very tightly back into a long ponytail that reached around her waist; Lillie thought she recognised her from her Astronomy class. Lillie had never spoken to her because she was a Slytherin, and her experiences with Slytherins hadn't been good.

"O- Okay?" Lillie said, but it sounded more like a question.

The Slytherin girl walked a little way down the corridor and stopped beside a compartment door; Lillie hurried to catch up. The compartment was empty, so the girls were alone and Lillie felt slightly uncomfortable.

The girl called Calloway noticed that Lillie was uncomfortable and with a musical laugh said, "Don't worry, I won't bite." Lillie smiled uneasily and the girl rolled her eyes. "I'm Leslie Calloway and I_ am_ in Slytherin, but that doesn't mean I hate muggle-borns."

Lillie raised her eyebrows and asked, "Won't Mindy and Katy give you a bad time tonight?"

A flash of anger passed through the brown eyes. "No they won't. Don't judge us Slytherins; we're not a bad lot, mostly. There are nine girls in our dormitory and only those two give a damn about blood. We don't have a great history, I'll admit, but that was years ago; people need to stop thinking that we can't ever change," she said slightly scathingly.

"I'm sorry," said Lillie, reflexively.

"Don't worry about it. You of all people I can understand," said Leslie, letting out a big sigh. "I just wish people would stop blaming us for other people's mistakes."

Lillie didn't know what to say, and the silence stretched out for an age until "Lillie, there you are! Who's this?" It was Teddy and Victoire.

"This is Leslie," said Lillie, "she's in our year, in Slytherin."

Victoire raised her eyebrows slightly but Teddy smiled and said, "Mind if we join you?"

"Not at all," said Leslie smoothly.

The compartment suddenly felt a lot more comfortable and soon enough, they were joined by Molly Weasley, Tom Finnegan, a Gryffindor in Lillie's year, and Tom's older sister, Miriam, who turned out to be the girl that Teddy had snogged last year, much to Lillie's displeasure.

The compartment was suddenly very noisy and Lillie's usual tactic of sleeping wouldn't work, so she had to listen and try and understand the Quidditch talk going on between the other five; she enjoyed playing Quidditch, but she didn't know the names of any players or anything like that. Eventually, Lillie did manage to fall asleep, but only once Tom and Victoire already had.

…

"Lillie," someone whispered, shaking her gently. Opening her eyes she recognised Teddy's eyes, which were currently a golden-brown colour similar to his hair.

"What is it?" Lillie yawned.

"We're almost at Hogwarts, you might want to get changed, and besides, there are a couple of people who look like they want to speak to you," he explained. Lillie looked groggily around; everyone else in the compartment had changed into their robes already and had gone back to sleep. Outside the compartment, Lillie recognised Gill and Parvati; the latter had grown considerably over the summer. Lillie took off her jumper and pulled the robes on over her t-shirt and skirt before heading out of the compartment.

Before she had time to move, she was engulfed by four pairs of arms and the three-way hug lasted for about an hour. Finally, Parvati pulled out, and Gill followed suit. "I've been so worried about you!" said Gill, and the relief in her voice could not have been plainer. "When I saw that horrible old woman take you, I was sure something terrible was going to happen. I told everyone what had happened, of course but… I'm just so glad you're alright."

Lillie smiled a little; it was nice to know that people cared this much about her. "I'm fine, Gill thanks. How were your summers?"

"_Amazing_," said Parvati emphatically and then the two girls launched into a very long and detailed account of their summer holidays, which they seemed to have spent together. They had gone to America with Parvati's mother Padma, who was advertising her new book, where they had met Gill's father, who was in Texas. They were just telling Lillie about the unicorn herd they had seen in Oregon, when the train started to slow down.

"We must be there," said Parvati. "We have to go get our stuff, but will tell you the rest later."

When Lillie returned to her compartment she looked out the window and was shocked to see, not the platform of Hogsmeade station, but a mountain landscape and no sign of the village. In the distance, she could just glimpse Hogwarts peeking out from between two mountains.

"Are we there?" asked Leslie, who had woken up.

"No," Teddy frowned.

The question Lillie was about to ask was answered as a loud voice rung out through the train, "The Hogwarts Express has broken down. The Hogwarts Express has broken down. Please proceed to the nearest exit, leave all luggage behind. Please proceed to the nearest exit, leave all luggage behind."

By now everyone was awake and pulling hats, gloves, cloaks and scarves out of bags as the message repeated. Grumbling, everyone headed towards the doors of the train.

"Can't they just fix it with magic?" asked Lillie to the group as a whole.

"This train is pretty old; I think it's already held together with too much magic to do any more. If they say it's broken then it's broken," muttered Teddy, his heat chattering from the cold. Lillie on the other hand had spent a lot of time in the mountains growing up and so she was perfectly accustomed to the cold.

Suddenly there was a very bright light right in front of them and they covered their eyes. Peering through her fingers, Lillie spotted the young trolley lady holding up a wand, which was emitting the light. She spoke and her voice was magically magnified, "Please follow the light." Without further ado, she headed off in the general direction of the castle.

There wasn't much talking as the procession made its way towards the castle; word must have been sent ahead because, waiting for them on the edge of the Black Lake were the large thestral-drawn carriages. On the very edge of the lake, were the small boats that the first years had to go in; Professor Trelawney was sat in the front of one of them crocheting what looked like another shawl. She looked up when they arrived and said mystically, "Ahhh, I knew this would happen, I warned the Headmistress."

Ignoring her, Lillie and the others jumped into the first carriage swiftly followed by a few fifth year Hufflepuffs. The carriage set off at once and a second later, they could hear the others starting to move along too.

The journey to the school took much longer than usual and the whole thing was spent in silence; one of the Hufflepuffs, a boy called Charlie, conjured up some blue flames and most people gathered around it warming up their numb hands. When they finally reached the school everyone was grateful for the warmth of the Entrance Hall and even more so for the even warmer Great Hall, where the staff and Sorting Hat were already waiting.

Lillie took a seat about halfway down the Ravenclaw table and Teddy set next to her, he was still shivering. A minute later, Gill sat down on Lillie's other side and Parvati sat opposite Gill; they resumed their account of the holidays and soon the Great Hall was full of people and noise.

This died away at once when the first years came in and a hush fell over the hall while everyone was sorted. Molly Weasley was sorted into Gryffindor and the last person to be sorted was Kana Zamora, who became a Ravenclaw. Lillie cheered along with everyone else and a minute later, Lillie was tucking into a nice plate of chicken catsu curry, something which there hadn't been the year before.

Professor McGonagall's speech was roughly the same as the year before's and Lillie discovered that someone called Professor Stokes from America had become the new Transfiguration teacher, and that Professor 'Dung' Fletcher had been replaced by Professor Dean Thomas.

Lillie went to bed feeling optimistic that her second year would be much more enjoyable than her first, and she fell asleep as soon as she had said hello to everyone in her dorm.

**Author's note:**

**First of all thanks to Facetaker. Your story The Serpens Order inspired me to write my own and I am so sad that it's over, it really was one of the best stories that I have ever read and I advise that anyone reading this check it out immediately, it is well worth the time.**

**Secondly thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl, whose story Crossroads is another inspiration and is still going strong.**

**Next I would like to thank everyone that reviewed and alerted and I would ask you to review again. I promise I will redo the third chapter soon; I've had a lot on my plate recently.**

**I also want to say that Lillie's second year is pretty uneventful so I'm going to write one more chapter on it and the summer afterwards and start up again properly in the third year.**

**Please review.**

**WTCST**


	17. The Second Year: Epilogues

Silver Lining

Chapter 16: The Second Year: Epilogues

The breakdown of the Hogwarts Express was by far and away the most dangerous and adventurous thing that happened to Lillie during her second year, and that suited her just fine. Her first year had forced her to mature a lot in a very short space of time and for now, she just wanted to be a normal girl.

The whispers that had followed her around at the end of her first year died down and no unusual appearances caused her any worry. Her teachers were mostly the same as before; Professor Lugitte had decided to stay on at Hogwarts rather than return to Beauxbatons and Professors Thomas and Stokes were much better than their predecessors. Transfiguration soon became her favourite subject and Professor Stokes her favourite teacher.

She spent the Christmas holidays pretty much alone, but she didn't mind; besides she had gotten quite adept at keeping herself company over the summer and she spent a lot of time exploring the Grounds. She got to know Madame Maxime, the half-giantess who lived in the Grounds quite well and she would reminisce about France and Lillie would practice her French.

In the Grounds she discovered many small little passages and when she finally dared to go into one, she discovered that it merely led to another opening somewhere else in the Grounds; she started working on a little map on which she plotted all the openings and their pairs.

She also discovered the secret to the Whomping Willow and liked to play a little game with the wizened tree, in which she would jump and dodge the branches until she got close enough to press the root that stopped the flaying branches.

During Easter, the Timberlake twins stayed in and Lillie showed them what she had discovered; she had perfected her map of the Grounds during the term. The twins then spent a lot of time exploring the Grounds themselves while Lillie headed off to the library research Hogwarts history; she had decided that she didn't know enough about the school which had so many secrets.

It got towards the end of the summer term, Lillie had passed her exams with flying colours and she was in the library finishing off what she hoped was her last Transfiguration essay of the year; she had agreed to spend the first few weeks of the holidays with Parvati, whose mother would be book-signing in Australia.

Lillie was halfway through her conclusion when Professor Trelawney came in her large eyes misted over, she was muttering to herself. When she saw Lillie, her eyes widened and gripping her arm she said in a strange, hoarse voice that was very different from her normal tones, "Six moons from now you will betray one close to you. But they shall prevail." Then she walked away as though nothing had happened.

Thinking that it was another one of Professor Trelawney's crazy ramblings, Lillie completely forgot about the incident.

When she returned to the common room, Lillie found most of the other second year Ravenclaws sitting on the comfortable blue armchairs and sofas around the table in the middle of the common room. She squeezed herself in beside Eric Parker and Alex Johnstone, two boys in Chris' dorm and saw what all the excitement was about.

In the middle of the table was a pile of forms and leaflets; pulling a form towards her, Lillie saw the words 'THIRD YEAR COURSES' stamped across the top. Lillie looked down the list of subject choices, there were about ten in total. "How many can we choose," she asked Eric.

"Flitwick said four, five if you drop Muggle Studies," answered the pale boy.

Lillie looked back down the list, she would drop Muggle Studies, she found the class exceptionally boring so she ticked the corresponding box, and instead she would choose Drama and Ancient Runes. She still had up to three choices left and she looked back down the list: Arithmancy; Art; Care of Magical Creatures; Divination; Earth and Nature Magic (ENM) – new; History of Magic; Muggle Art; Music; Religion; Xylomancy. She ticked the boxes for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and ENM.

The next few minutes entailed the predictable rush of who was doing what and Lillie discovered that almost everyone in Ravenclaw had gone for Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures; about five of them had done Arithmancy as well. It transpired that she was the only one to have ENM down and Dan Short and Parvati were the only other two Ravenclaws doing Drama.

"Who teaches all these," she asked Eric, who had pretty much the same choices as her, except he was doing Muggle Studies while Lillie was doing ENM.

"I think Professor Matrice does Arithmancy and Professor Short teaches Care of Magical Creatures; he's Dan's dad I think," he responded. Lillie looked over to where Dan Short was sitting and then back at her form.

"What about the others?" she asked Eric.

"Dunno," he replied.

"Ancient Runes is taught by Señora Idioma," supplied Alex Johnstone, a small boy although he was still taller than Lillie, from Lillie's other side.

Over the next few days Lillie discovered that Ismail Anoka in Hufflepuff and Leslie were the only other two people doing ENM and neither of them knew who took it either. Drama proved to be a popular subject among the Gryffindors, but there were no Slytherins and only one Hufflepuff, Abigail Bones.

The last week went by smoothly and Hufflepuff won the House Cup; no one was rewarded any last minute points, however. Lillie went up to bed for the last time ever as a second year feeling quite pleased with how the year had gone; no kidnap, no pain and not even a coma!

The next morning, she headed off down the track to Hogsmeade along with Parvati, Jenny and Eric looking forward to what she hoped would be a better summer. She had asked Parvati to get onto the platform first and check for any signs of crazy great-aunts.

As it turned out, there were a number of crazy great-aunts on the platform but none of them resembled Dulcia Selwyn, who was in fact at the ministry of magic right now.

The first few weeks of the holidays went by in a breeze of beaches, sun and Australian accents and when it was time to leave both Lillie and Parvati were sad to go. When they got back to England, they met up with Gill and Victoire and Lillie went back to Shell Cottage where she was going to stay until the last week of the summer, when she would go and visit the Timberlakes.

It was strange not having a home, it forced her to sofa-surf as her father would have put it; she didn't mind, she liked everyone she was staying with, but it was nice to have a place to call your own.

**Author's Note:**

**Thanks to Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl and all my other reviewers.**

**I'm sorry this was such a short chapter but nothing excited happened, the next one will be longer and more exciting, I promise.**

**In your reviews, if you review, please don't harass me about the timetable, I realised I got it wrong a very long time ago but this is the way I'm doing it. It's my own story, although I don't own Harry Potter (yet) and so it's my rules. The timetable is wrong but it's going to stay wrong because I have done too much to change all that. Sorry if it irritates you, but that is my final word.**

**Please Review, and I will try to update soon, sorry for sounding like a jerk in that last comment; I woke up an hour early today to finish this and I had exams all last week so I'm a little ****stressed. I'm really a nice guy **

**Please review.**


	18. Mr Friend

Silver Lining

Chapter 17: Mr Friend

When Lillie arrived on the doorstep of Shell Cottage, she was extremely tanned and her hair had been bleached slightly by the sun. She missed Australia; a lot had happened to her there: she had had her first crush, a boy called George Friend. He had been tall, tanned and good-looking who enjoyed surfing, swimming, sleeping and (typically) Quidditch. Australia had also seen her first kiss, also with George Friend; it wasn't particularly romantic, it had actually been a complete surprise to Lillie: George had swooped down on her while she was working (of all things) and he had kissed Lillie full on the lips. He left immediately and Lillie never saw him again.

So, Lillie was excited to tell Victoire what had happened. Lillie wasn't usually the gossipy type, but she Victoire, who had been going out with Michael Bilding for almost a year now, had been trying to get her to 'loosen up' for a long time and she would probably be delighted. She wouldn't tell her until tomorrow though; she was too tired for now.

"Ahhh, bonjour Lillie," it was Victoire's mother, Fleur who had opened the door and she was smiling at Lillie. "You look much better than the last time I saw you. Victoire is setting up an extra bed in her room for you now," she added contemplating Lillie.

"What? But what about-," she began but was cut off by Fleur.

"That room is being taken up by Teddy, he is staying here also," she explained,

Lillie was too jet-lagged to argue, so she went upstairs and as promised, Victoire was up in her room setting up an extra bed, or rather watching her father do it. "Lillie! How was it down under?" she asked the moment she walked into the room.

"Good, I'll tell you tomorrow," she yawned.

"Tomorrow," Victoire whined.

"Lillie's probably very jet-lagged, Victoire it's about six in the morning in Australia," Bill jutted in straightening up.

"Fine," grumped Victoire.

Lillie would have to thank Bill for coming to her rescue but for now she just quickly changed into a nightdress she had gotten in Australia and collapsed onto her bed falling deeply asleep.

It was no surprise to Lillie when her dreams took her back to Australia, back to the small study. _She was writing her Transfiguration essay for Professor Stokes when the door opened. She didn't look up; it was probably Parvati coming in to do her__ own work. 'At least she's stopped playing tonsil-tennis with that Gary," thought Lillie._

_The next thing she felt gave a Lillie quite a shock, a pair of large strong hands landed on her shoulders. Turning round, she saw the deep blue eyes and golden-blond hair of George Friend. He grinned and before Lillie could say anything, he had crouched down to her seated level and kissed her._

_The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but those few seconds were some of the best of Lillie life, one hand was in her hair and the other on her shoulder, while Lillie's hands moved up his arms and stopped once they had reached his shoulder blades where they slowly moved up and down._

In real life, George had stood up and left then but this was a dream, not real life, anything could happen in a dream. _George__ pulled back and, smiling at Lillie, he held out his hand for her. She took it and he pulled her out onto the beach where the sun was setting, even though it was three in the afternoon._

_They walked along the beach for a while in silence, hand in hand until they reached a large piece of driftwood on the edge of the beach where they sat down. That was odd, Lillie had never driftwood on this beach before and when did the golden sand become so white. A cold wind started to blow and she huddled in against George feeling colder than she had at any point in Australia, she looked up at George, only George wasn't sitting beside her, Teddy was._

_Teddy looked down at Lillie and grinned, Lillie was a little shocked but grinned back, looking into his currently palest blue eyes. The eyes moved towards her and they closed; Lillie closed her eyes too. Teddy's lips were soon pressed against hers, they were much softer than George's and he was much gentler; one hand on Lillie's hand and the other one wrapped tenderly round her waist._

_Teddy broke away and headed further along the beach; she could see Shell Cottage in the distance and that must be where he was headed._

_When he was out of earshot, Lillie turned around and the wind stopped, the sand became golden again and a voice from behind her said, "Don't leave Lillie." Lillie turned around and saw George standing there, a sad look in his eyes. He leaned forward to kiss Lillie, but she put her hands on his chest and stopped him._

"_You left me," she said. It hurt to say it, but he had, he had left the study and never returned. __George__ faded away, and when he was gone, everything started to go dark until _Lillie woke up.

According to the watch on Victoire's bedside table it was ten to three in the morning. She got up quietly and headed over to the open window; she looked down the beach and saw a large piece of driftwood unnervingly similar to that in her dream.

She thought about the dream, but as she thought about it, it seemed to slip away and she was left trying to remember something that never happened.

She was about to shut the window because of the cold wind coming through when the moon came out and Lillie saw that it was full, she heard a mournful sort of howl from somewhere below her and saw a creature that she had only seen once before.

She quickly slipped on Victoire's slippers and headed out as quietly as she could. She saw that Teddy's door was open, as she had expected it to be and she quietly tiptoed down the stairs, along the corridor and out into the chilly, windy night.

Lillie edged her way round the house anxiously; she had promised Teddy that she would never look for him on a full moon because he was worried that he might be dangerous. But for some reason Lillie knew he was safe, she had seen him before and he hadn't attacked her then, so why now?

The beast- Teddy was lying on the beach it's- his brown fur looked wet as though he had been swimming. "Teddy," Lillie whispered, when she was next to the beast.

"Lillie?" he croaked making Lillie jump; she had forgotten that he could talk when he was in this form.

"Yes," she answered quietly.

"I told you not to," he said. "Go back. I might…" he trailed off.

"You haven't attacked me yet and you're not going to," said Lillie defiantly. "Were you swimming?" she asked.

There was a murmur which sounded like a yes before Teddy said, "I'm so tired, and I thought it might wake me up. I need to stay awake so no one will find me."

"You must be freezing, come back inside," urged Lillie. She knew what his answer would be before she had finished asking the question.

"I don't want anyone to see me," he moaned. "Only five other people know what I am and I want to keep it that way."

Lillie tried for about ten minutes to get him to come inside but Teddy was even more stubborn than her and so eventually she gave up.

"Don't go," he said when Lillie started to head towards the door.

"I'm coming back," she said; if he wouldn't come to the warm, the warm would have to go to him. When she was inside, she tiptoed to the bathroom and grabbed a large warm and scruffy towel off of the rail; she also took the duvet and blankets from her bed in Victoire's room, where the girl was sleeping deeply.

When she headed back outside she handed Teddy the towel; he shook as much water out of his fur before accepting and when he did take the towel, he was very careful not to make any holes with his claws. When he was dry enough, Lillie placed a couple of blankets on the floor and Teddy curled up on them, like a dog does in his basket. Then she lay down next to him and pulled the duvet over the pair of them.

Soon enough, the wolf-boy fell asleep but Lillie, who was wide awake now, gazed at the stars and let her mind wander. She was reminded forcibly of the times when, as a child, she would crawl into her dog's basket and fall asleep next to him or just lie there and listen to him breathing, like she was doing now.

They had almost always had Labradors in the Whitehead household and their names always started with an N. There had been Nora, when Lillie was a toddler, then Nacho and Nutella, who died from eating the rat poison that had been left out. Because three year-old Lillie was so upset, her parents immediately brought another dog: Beba.

Beba was the only dog whose name didn't begin with N and that was because she was from a shelter and already had a name. Sadly, Beba had been horribly treated as a puppy and a young dog so certain things aggravated her very badly. Once, when Lillie had patted her on the leg she had gone crazy and bit Lillie's hand; Lillie had been taken to hospital and her hand stitched up, but Beba was declared mentally unstable and had to be put down. It turned out that as a very young puppy, drugs and horrible chemicals had been injected into that leg.

After Beba, Lillie's parents had brought Magik. Magik had been Lillie's absolute favourite and he was the one who Lillie would curl up with. He was a blonde Labrador, quite small, energetic but extremely gentle. When they had played together, Magik had made sure that his teeth, his claws and anything else that might cause damage were kept well out of the way and he had almost been like a brother to Lillie.

Magik had lived for six years, but when Lillie was nine or ten, he disappeared and neither of Lillie's parents would tell her what had happened to him. They had planned on getting a new dog for Lillie's eleventh birthday but other things had gotten in the way.

Lillie wanted to cry, but she couldn't, she hadn't cried since the previous summer. She wasn't sure how she felt about this; surely it wasn't a bad thing that she wouldn't cry but did it mean that she had cried all the tears she would ever cry or had she become so heartless that she wasn't moved by anything anymore?

Lillie pulled her mind away from such gloomy thoughts but before she could throw it down another path a shaft of red light appeared at the horizon. She looked down at the sleeping form behind her and for the first time she truly saw what Teddy became at the full moon.

His fur was a golden-brown colour similar to his hair but far less shiny and his nose and mouth had elongated forming a weird snout. His ears had grown and became slightly pointy but not quite wolf ears. His fingers had shrunk and his nails had grown and thickened. His body was strange too, his legs looked strangely thin at the bottom and his arms had elbows had moved around.

As she watched him, the ears began to return to normal and his fur began to thin, it was only when his arms were completely revealed that Lillie realised he wasn't wearing any clothes. She quickly got out of the make-shift bed and covered Teddy up to the chin in the blanket before scrambling away. She noticed a pile of clothes sitting on a rock, sheltered by the house; when she drew nearer she realised that they were Teddy's pyjamas. Picking them up she headed over to the boy whose face was now completely normal.

She crouched down beside him and out a hand on his head, Teddy's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright; Lillie turned her head away just in time. "Lie down, Teddy!" she said.

Realising why she was asking him this Teddy lay straight back down. "Did you-," he began.

"_No,_" said Lillie firmly. "I have your pyjamas though and she threw the garments in his general direction still not turning around.

There was a shuffling noise, a pause and another shuffling noise before Teddy said, "Okay, you can turn around now." Lillie turned around and realised that she was seeing him for the first time since the end of her second year. Even though he was sitting down, Lillie could tell that he had grown about three inches, if not more.

"Is this why you weren't able to greet me last night?" Lillie asked.

"No," Teddy answered sheepishly. "I was in the shower, and by the time I was done, you were already asleep and I didn't want to wake you up."

"Fine," said Lillie. She had missed Teddy more than she realised and it was great to see him again.

…

That night, Lillie had the same dream as the night before, and the night after that, and the one after that. Every morning though it would slip away; she knew she was having the same dream every night, but trying to remember it was like trying to catch smoke.

She didn't tell anyone she was having dreams: Teddy would get worried and Lillie would be annoyed that Lillie couldn't tell her what were in her dreams.

The weeks in Shell Cottage passed depressingly quickly as Lillie agonised over her unknown dream. Lillie had seen most of the Weasleys at some point over the holidays and discovered that Fred and George junior were starting at Hogwarts that year. Even though they were cousins, people referred to them as the twins. Each one was identical to their father and they were even born on the same day; Fred and George senior lived in neighbouring houses and so they had grown up together too.

Soon enough, Chris and Richard Timberlake were waiting with their mother on the edges of Shell Cottage's boundaries. They didn't stay long and soon enough Lillie found herself outside the Timberlakes' house. It was in the middle of London but there was no way of telling it apart from the other houses up and down the street. The address was number 18 Grimmauld Place and it was a large, ornate looking house.

During Lillie's stay at the Timberlake house she never got to see Kyle Timberlake and thank him because he was always working from early in the morning to late at night. Still, her stay was far from bad.

The first day she was there, the Hogwarts letters arrived; how Professor McGonagall had known where Lillie would be staying was beyond her, but her letter found her at breakfast along with Chris and Richard's. This year, she needed six more textbooks: Earth Magic (Volume 1), Magyke of the Naturale Worlde, Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them, So you want to be an arithmancer, Language of Ancient Wizards and The Standard Book of Spells Grade 3.

Chris was also doing Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and COMC, while Richard was doing COMC and drama with her. They went to Diagon Alley later that day and got all their books and robes and other things; Mrs Timberlake kindly agreed to pay for Lillie's too.

Chris and Richard, who had both made it onto their respective Quidditch teams last year, Chris as Keeper and Richard as Beater were both asking for new brooms too. "Please mum, the Nimbus 3005 will ensure that we'll win the cup," pleaded Chris.

"There's no way that Ravenclaw will win that cup," argued Richard facing his brother.

"I'm sorry," said Chris, "but which house has won it for the last five years?" asked Richard raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but all your good players have gone," taunted Richard.

"No way! What about Heidi Gunnison? And Danny Hitchins and-," argued Chris.

"Boys!" exclaimed their mother, making both of them fall silent, "I can't get you the 3005, it's too expensive, or the 3004 for that matter. I will get you the 3003 however, if you stop arguing."

The look in Richard's eyes made it look like he wanted to keep arguing whereas Richard looked unsure as to settle for the Nimbus 3003. Eventually he decided that this offer was the best he was going to get so he muttered, "Thanks mum."

Mrs Timberlake rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I don't know why I bother," she said to herself, but just loudly enough for her two boys to hear it.

They returned to Grimmauld Place with two long inconspicuous packages which cause a few muggles to stare at them for a while; the wand tucked behind Mrs Timberlake's ear probably didn't help either.

On the second day, they mostly read, or worked, or played cards; same with the third day.

The fourth day, however, the Quidditch world cup final was on and so, everyone, with the exception of Mr Timberlake who was already at work, crowded around the wireless. The match was being held in Latvia and the final was between Belgium and Seychelles. Lillie was supporting Belgium, having been brought up there and so was Richard, Chris was supporting Seychelles, however, and Mrs Timberlake remained firmly neutral claiming, "I support the referee."

Lillie could barely hear the radio because of the way that Chris and Richard were cheering and groaning. She could barely understand the commentary either; the quaffle seemed to be moving so quickly. One thing she did hear though was when roughly three hours after the game had started the commentator roared something in Latvian that neither Chris or Richard could understand, but Lillie who had lived in Latvia for a year cheered wildly.

"What did he say?" was thrown at her from all corners.

"Bart Courtois catches the snitch. It's all over; Belgium 350; Seychelles 190. The Belgians have their keeper to thank for their victory," Lillie translated. Richard jumped up and hugged Lillie while Chris put his head in his hands and Mrs Timberlake merely smiled amusedly.

After everything had died down a little, Richard who was far more talkative at the moment than Chris told her how the cup was supposed to have been the year before, but the Latvians hadn't been ready and so it was postponed.

"We were gonna go as well," muttered Chris darkly. He clearly took Quidditch very seriously.

"Why couldn't you go this year?" asked Lillie. Surely the tickets were still the same.

"Overbooked, we lost our seats," was all Chris would say and for the rest of the afternoon he glared darkly at everything that moved. He was only slightly cheered up when his mother made him beef ragu, his favourite food, for dinner. Lillie's birthday was lost somewhere in the middle of all the excitement.

The following day Chris was a little less gloomy and at breakfast he actually smiled when his mother told him that his father would be there to see them off the platform the following day. Lillie on the other hand was rather apprehensive about seeing Mr Timberlake.

That day was spent much more calmly than the last, Chris and Richard had to finish off their holiday work and Lillie was engrossed in her Ancient Runes book, she had always found languages fascinating and these symbols and pronunciations were simply beautiful. Lillie's mother had been interpreter who spoke about ten languages and Lillie had inherited her gift. Lillie spoke French and Spanish well, she could also rub along in German and Danish and she understood a tiny bit of Latvian, although she had never lived there.

The sun rose and it set, and then it rose again and this time, their bags were packed and they were ready to go back to Hogwarts. Lillie was the first one downstairs; she walked into the kitchen and saw Mr Timberlake, but Lillie only saw the man in the tower. She shuddered and closed her eyes, trying to remain as calm as she could.

"Lillie?" the man asked and his voice was exactly the same as it was in the tower; Lillie cringed but nodded nevertheless. "I'm Kyle, Chris and Richard's dad," he said kindly.

"Pleasure t-to mmm-meet you, Mr T-Tim-Timberlake," Lillie stuttered.

"Call me Kyle," he said and Lillie nodded shakily.

Her eyes were still closed and so she jumped about three feet into the air when a pair of large strong hands held her shoulders gently. Her eyes flew open and she looked right into Kyle's eyes, the same hazel eyes as Chris; this calmed Lillie down a bit, at least, enough to say, "Thank you for, you know," without stuttering.

"Just doing my job. Although I was too late to help that poor Finnegan girl," he said shaking his head.

"What happened to her, when she was in that tower?" asked Lillie.

"Nothing as far as anyone could make out," Kyle said mournfully, straightening up.

Lillie though about Anna; the name Finnegan rang a bell bur she couldn't remember why. Of course, Luciana's surname was Finnegan could they be related? She made a mental note to ask Luciana about it when they got back.

"Breakfast?" Kyle offered.

"I'll just make some toast answered Lillie.

"Probably a good idea," Kyle grinned. "Who knows what would happen if I started cooking."

The door swung open and Mrs Timberlake entered the room, the atmosphere was suddenly much less awkward and Kyle had soon disappeared behind a newspaper and Lillie was munching happily on some buttered and jammed toast.

Chris and Richard came downstairs yawning; over the summer they had grown into teenagers, they now almost always slept in late, they had each grown about five inches adding to their already considerable height, their voices were deeper and a little squeaky and a few spots had broken out on Richard's face.

The journey to the platform was comfortable enough; Kyle had gotten a car from the ministry and they were relatively near already. At the barrier between platform's nine and ten, Lille leaned against the wall checking that no one was looking she slid through it and emerged on the other side.

She was shocked when she wasn't met by the Hogwarts Express. The usual scarlet steam train had been replaced by a similar one which was midnight blue and slightly wider than the previous train. Lillie clearly wasn't the only one to notice it. "What the…" Chris swore when he came through the barrier behind her. "It wasn't like this at the end of term was it?" he asked.

"No." Lillie was pretty sure that the train had been red last time she was in it.

A similar dialogue happened when Richard came in, and Kyle and Mrs Timberlake. Eventually they accepted it and the three young teenagers had to rush towards the no-longer-scarlet-but-midnight-blue steam train because the guard had just blown his whistle to signal the imminent departure of the train.

They couldn't find an empty carriage anywhere and so the twins broke off and went into a carriage with some other Gryffindors and Lillie continued onwards. She passed a compartment with Teddy and Victoire in it but it was full so she only popped in to say hello before continuing.

At the very back of the train, Lillie found a compartment that was empty except for a couple of Ravenclaw fourth years who Lillie recognised as Jeremy Marlon and Mathias Arnold, who she only knew by name. She hadn't spoken to Jeremy for a long time and she had never spoken to Mathias but she went in anyway and they didn't object to her sitting in a corner and reading a book while they did their stuff.

The long journey was the most that Lillie had ever read in one go; she finished a book that she had been reading painfully slowly throughout the summer ten minutes before they arrived at the station. She went into the bathroom to get changed and when she came back, the two boys were as well and she joined in the conversation for the last stretch of the journey.

Lillie took the carriage to school with the two boys and a lot of people she didn't know and she didn't find her friends again until she had reached the Great Hall where she sat down next to Jenny. "Hey Jenny," said Lillie brightly.

"Hi Lillie," she answered. "How was Australia? Parvati took you, didn't she?"

"Australia was fine, really amazing actually. There was this boy called George Friend; I'll tell you about it later, although it wouldn't surprise me if Gill already knew because Parvati does," said Lillie.

The hall fell silent as the crowd of first years came in; the first person to get sorted was Pranay Anoka, who went to Hufflepuff and the long line eventually diminished until there were four people left: Fred Weasley (Gryffindor), George Weasley (Gryffindor), Amanda Zabini (Slytherin) and Shoko Zuma (Ravenclaw).

Before the feast began, Professor McGonagall explained to them why the Hogwarts express had changed, "The last one was becoming a bit too unreliable and so we had to change." Then the feast started again and Lillie told Jenny about her encounter with George and by the time every Ravenclaw third year girl seemed to know about Lillie and 'Mr Friend' as they called him.

**Author's Note:**

**Usual thanks: Facetaker, AnimeFlowerGirl and all my fantastical reviewers.**

**I know it's not a very exciting chapter, but it gives a little insight into Lillie's past, which I thought was nice, I realised how little we actually know.**

**Please review, the next chapters are probably going to be quite fluffy but we'll see.**

**WTCST**


	19. Revelations

Silver Lining

Chapter 18: Revelations

The new year at Hogwarts started off in a similar fashion to the other two except now, Lillie had five new classes: Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, ENM and Drama.

Arithmancy was taught by a bald wizard called Professor Matrice. He had a slight Welsh lilt and was relatively strict. He started off by giving them their homework for the term: a sheet full of calculations. "You must do one everyday, and I will check to see if you have," he told them. He then told them that this term they would simply be learning and understanding the actual mathematics and they wouldn't start work on the magical properties until at least the summer term.

Care of Magical Creatures was taught by the father of Dan Short. Dan had golden-brown hair and he was extremely tall and broad-shouldered. Professor Short looked extremely similar only his eyes were brown, unlike Dan whose eyes were blue, and he was also much bigger and more muscled. However, he turned out to be a very smiley man but when he got angry, he was terrifying. Because the class was so big, Professor Short had to split the class into two; the first group had their lesson on Tuesday mornings and the rest on Friday afternoons. Lillie was in the first group and she watched half the class troop back up to the castle. In their first lesson Professor Short gave everyone a small, black and furry animal and told them to identify it with help from their textbook and look after it for the rest of the double. It was a very enjoyable lesson and to top it off, Professor Short didn't even set homework.

Ancient Runes was taught by Sra Idioma: a very strict woman who even managed to keep the MacDougal twins under control. She had organised a seating plan, which was completely random as far as Lillie could work out, and she ended up on a bench with Dan Short on one side and Eric Parker on the other. Ancient Runes was fascinating and Sra Idioma was an excellent teacher, after only one lesson, they were able to read ancient Flemish, although understanding it was well beyond them.

ENM or Earth and Nature Magic, was the subject that intrigued Lillie the most, and she was surprised to discover that it was taught by Madame Carlotta, the Potions mistress. Their first lesson was a long speech by Mme Carlotta about the importance of the natural environment in the wizarding and muggle worlds. She told them that over the course of the next three years, the three of them – Lillie, Ismail Anoka and Leslie – would be learning how to 'call nature to us, to manipulate it to do our bidding'. Lillie left the lesson feeling a little bit confused but there was no denying that it was intriguing.

There were two Drama teachers: Professor Taylor, an old woman with short grey hair, black eyes and a slightly pinched face, and Professor Bristow, a much younger man with spiky brown hair, grey eyes and a good-natured face. After being introduced to the two teachers, they discovered that the classes were split and that they would have Professor Bristow. When Professor Taylor and half the class had left, he told them what they were going to do over the year. "Every year there's a senior play, for students in the sixth and seventh years, with the occasional fifth year too, this happens at the end of this term. Then next term, there's another play for the third, fourth and fifth years and in the summer, a third one for all five years." He then handed out copies of 'A Midsummer night's dream' by William Shakespeare.

"William Shakespeare is probably the most famous muggle playwright, but I doubt many of you will have heard of him. Anyone?" he asked looking around the class hopefully; Lillie tentatively raised her hand. "Muggle-born?" he asked and Lillie nodded. Proffer Bristow smiled knowingly and then he opened the book and handed out parts at random and they began to read through the play.

With the addition of all her new classes, Lillie found she was in the library even more than last year, usually accompanied by most of the other girls. Chris, who was on the Quidditch team, had practice four days a week on top of his considerable work load and Lillie would often find him already in the common room when she went downstairs for breakfast.

Over the summer holidays everyone except Lillie seemed to have grown about a foot and a lot of the boys had acquired squeaky voices. This didn't bother Lillie; in fact, she found the MacDougal twins' constantly cracking voices quite funny. However, what did annoy her was the sudden change in behaviour that came with it. Everyone had become much more short-tempered, sometimes they would get outraged over the tiniest of things. For example, one morning when Lillie had tied her hair back in a bob with a dark blue hair band; Gill got really angry with her for wearing the same one as her. Normally Lillie would have stubbornly refused to take it off, but she knew that that would start a fight, which was not something she wanted so early in the morning.

But despite this, the third year was pretty good because of (among other things) the trips to Hogsmeade; it was one thing going during the holidays when a lot of shops were closed and the streets were empty, but on the Hogsmeade weekends, Lillie found that all the shops were open and the massive throng of people created a great atmosphere. In November, it started snowing and the trips to Hogsmeade almost always meant a trip to the three broomsticks.

…

The term flew by, and soon it was December and the holiday buzz was in the air once again. Lillie had decided to stay at school over the holidays, she had been given a lot of to do and besides, she was missing her family more than usual lately and she didn't feel like staying with a perfect one.

"Are you sure you don't want to come stay ay my place?" Gill asked for the tenth time in as many minutes.

"I'm absolutely positutely sure," said Lillie and Gill grinned.

"Fine, but I will send you your present, and I don't mind if you don't get me anything, I understand," said Gill. Lillie narrowed her eyes slightly; recently, when Gill had said 'I don't mind', it usually meant 'I mind a lot', but the sincere look on Gill's face made Lillie relax.

"Thanks, Gill," she said smiling.

As usual, there were no girls staying in, but several boys, Chris, Dan and Eric, would be staying in as well. Richard would also be there, as would Teddy and several other people she didn't really know.

When she woke up the next day, Lillie did not feel like she had slept at all; her sleep had been fitful and plagued with unwanted dreams which drifted out of her grasp as soon as her eyes opened. Around her, all the other girls were already up and getting changed or washing but, Lillie who didn't have anywhere she needed to be going merely pulled her cloak on over her nightdress using it as a make-shift dressing gown.

"Are you OK, Lillie?" asked Jenny from the bed next to her, her big blue eyes looking straight into Lillie's.

"Yeah, why?" responded Lillie.

Jenny relaxed marginally and stood up saying, "You were moaning and muttering in your sleep."

"Bad dreams," explained Lillie. "I can't remember them though. I don't think it's anything to be worried about."

Jenny shrugged and as she turned to leave, a small slip of parchment fell out of her pocket. "Jen!" called Lillie and the girl wheeled around to face Lillie. "You dropped something," said Lillie, reaching for the parchment on the floor. Jenny blushed violently and grabbed it before Lillie could reach it and stuffed it deeper into her pocket before half-running to the door.

Lillie was a little shocked by this, but she soon got over it and headed down to breakfast herself. When she reached the Entrance Hall she heard someone called her name; she turned around to face an oncoming Victoire, whose suitcase was sitting abandoned on the large grey flagstones at the bottom of the stairs.

"Shouldn't you be at the train?" asked Lillie.

"I've got a bit of time," glancing at her watch. When she looked back at Lillie, she could see the troubled expression on the blond girl's face.

"Vicky, are you alright?" asked Lillie.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No I'm not; Lillie I have to tell you something," she moaned.

"What is it?"

"I didn't know who to tell, I thought you were the best option but then I thought that you might…" she trailed off.

Lillie wanted to say, "That I might what?" but she settled for, "Don't worry Vicky, I understand." For now, Vicky's needs seemed more urgent than her own.

"Thanks," said Victoire smiling slightly. There was a short pause where neither of them said anything before Victoire finally opened up to Lillie. "I think- I- I think I like Teddy," she stuttered. "I mean, I think I like him more than a friend," she added when Lillie raised her eyebrows. This time her eyebrows narrowed of their own accord; Lillie had dealt with similar situations before for Gill, Parvati and Etta, the latter twice already this term, but she had never felt as she did now. She wanted to punch Victoire in the face or hurt her in any way she could, but restrained herself, thinking hard.

But what had caused it? Why had there been this sudden change? She thought about Teddy and then about the two of them. She thought about the time when they had first met at Madam Malkin's, Teddy had been so nice to her and she thought about the first train journey where she had told him everything despite barely knowing him. She thought about their adventures around the castle and grounds together and she thought about how she had felt the time she had seen him snogging that girl. Without any conscious intentions she realised that, "I do too." The words came from her mouth before she realised that they were true and Lillie stared at Victoire, who was just as shocked as she was.

"I- what?" said Victoire, confusion etched across her face. Lillie didn't have time to say anything else; Victoire had rushed back over to her suitcase and fled through the door calling, "I'm going to be late," over her shoulder.

Lillie was startled by her own realisations, so she realised that Victoire must be even more so, especially given what she had just told Lillie. She headed into breakfast, and sat at the Ravenclaw table; she looked around, she was the only person in the Great Hall, everyone else was either on the train or still in bed; it was a very strange feeling. The only people at the top table were Professors Stokes and Bristow, who looked like they too had just gotten out of bed.

She heard someone come in and she turned to face the double doors. It was Teddy his hair its usual golden-brown and his eyes deep blue. Lillie panicked; she couldn't face him, now. What would she say? Maybe he wouldn't sit next to her. However, Teddy kept walking resolutely towards her. Lillie grabbed a pain-au-chocolat as he arrived and when he sat down she took a gigantic bite. There, that should keep her busy for a while.

Teddy looked at her and raised his eyebrows slightly, Lillie, not knowing what to do, glared at him, but this only made him laugh. Teddy's laugh got rid of any doubts Lillie might have had over the veracity of her feelings for the boy.

The chunk of pain-au-chocolat lasted an unusually short amount of time and before Lillie had the opportunity to take another bite Teddy asked, "Do you want to go into Hogsmeade at some point?"

"Not today, I've got too much work," said Lillie trying to sound non-chalant but she ended up sounding cold and curt. She shoved the rest of the pastry into her mouth, and half-ran out the Great Hall, leaving Teddy looking bemused and a little hurt behind her.

Once Lillie was outside the Great Hall she gave up on any pretence and run all the way up to her dormitory, once she was there, she leaned against a wall and sunk to the ground before putting her head in her hands. No tears fell; she wasn't sad or angry, she was just confused and now she felt guilty for having been so mean to Teddy.

"How can I like Teddy?" she asked to the world at large. But no answer came; she did, and that was the simple truth of it. She didn't know how or why, but she knew that that was the truth and there was nothing she could do about it. She needed somewhere to go where she would be able to think without being disturbed, there was only one place she could think of, but she had no idea how to get there. She looked around the room hopefully and noticed something she had never seen before, a small door set in the wall between Isa's bed and Samantha's bed.

Curious, Lillie moved towards it and when she tried the plain brass knob it twisted without resistance and felt warm in her hand. The door swung open noiselessly and Lillie saw a dark passage heading further than she could see. Returning to her bed, she took her wand off the small bedside table and whispered, "Lumos."

The bright beam of light illuminated the passage much further, but it still didn't stop or turn or anything. Lillie crouched down and, bracing herself, she stepped forward; before she could do anything she had slipped on something invisible and was sliding down the steep tunnel, always gathering speed. The impact had knocked the wand out of her hand and she saw the beacon of light disappear into the never-ending darkness, much like an owl disappears into the sky.

The slide was surprisingly smooth given the fact that it was made of stone and Lillie didn't feel or hear anything tear. Eventually, the light from her wand came back into view; it started as a tiny pinprick, but it grew in size until she could make out the smooth stone walls of the tunnel flashing past. It was only then that she realised how fast she was going. She must be far out from the castle now and far beneath it too.

When she saw that she was almost at the light, and the end of the passage, Lillie closed her eyes and tried to prepare for an impact. But it never came; Lillie opened her eyes and found that she had slowed down a lot as she had reached the bottom and at the end of the slide, she got off as if it had been no more, than a simple bike ride.

When she had gathered her wand up, she looked around and with a grin realised where she was.

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry this took so long. My laptop crashed before I had time to save anything and then I had horrible writer's block.**

**Thanks to my inspiration Facetaker and AnimeFlowerGirl.**

**And also a big thank you to Zheeba89 who really helped me with this chapter.**

**I don't think that I will update for a while, because I'm now just going to go through the chapters and correct as much as I can (apart from things like the timetable which have cropped up too much, it's too late to save that.**

**Forgive my typos.**

**Sorry it was a short chapter, but a lot happened.**

**I've redone it now, Victoire's reaction actually makes sense know and I hope I got all the typos. Don't know when the next chapter will be out. Keep reading!**

**WTCST- Out**


	20. Felix

Silver Lining

Chapter 19: Felix

Lillie was in a small empty room with two passages leading off in opposite directions; inside each passage was a kind of apparition, more than a ghost, but not quite alive. The one on the left was the man who had shepherded Lillie to Ravenclaw's reading room and the one on the right was the woman who had taken Toby away. This time, it was the woman who came forward and grasped Lillie's arm before leading her away down the passage. Lillie did not try and stop her, for she knew that the apparition was far more powerful than she appeared.

Eventually they stopped and the shepherd – as Ravenclaw had called the apparition – released her. She was facing a simple wooden door and she desperately wanted to go through and find out what was on the other side. However, Lillie waited; last time Ravenclaw had let her in, and she thought that she should wait for the same to happen again.

After a minute or so, the door swung open revealing a room very similar to the Ravenclaw common room, only smaller and the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw had been replaced with the ethereal version.

"Professor Ravenclaw," said Lillie bowing her head slightly.

"Good morning Lillian. You are alone this time." It was a statement not a question and so Lillie remained silent and waited for her to continue. "How long has it been since I last saw you?" This time it was a question so Lillie straightened up slightly before answering.

"About two years," said Lillie. "I haven't come back yet because I wasn't sure whether or not I needed to; besides, I thought that you couldn't find this place – your chamber if you looked for it."

"No matter, I called and you came," said Ravenclaw.

No one said anything for a while. Lillie who felt uncomfortable in the silence asked, "Why? Why did you call me?"

"You and Mr Rasbash were the only human contact I had for a thousand years. I enjoyed it very much and I have been keeping an eye on you too; after all even I am allowed to have my favourites," answered Ravenclaw. At her words, Lillie felt a slight pride well up in her chest, but she bottled it; she didn't think that this was the best time to be immature.

"But why did you call me _today_?" asked Lillie, for Ravenclaw had still not answered her question directly.

"A whim," said Ravenclaw. "I would also give you time to think, but I now realise that you know already what, or should I say who. Thank you for your time; it may not seem like much to you, but it is all that I need." Ravenclaw looked at a blank wall and a door grew into it. "It will take you wherever you wish to go," explained Ravenclaw, but Lillie already knew.

"Thank you," said Lillie not knowing what else to say. She headed towards the door. "Oh, Professor Ravenclaw?" said Lillie, suddenly remembering something from her last visit. "When I came, two years ago, I had to write my name in a book, why didn't I have to do that this time?"

"The shepherds know who you are now."

Oh, well err… thank you," Lillie said again, although she was not entirely reassured. Lillie turned and headed towards the door.

"My pleasure," Ravenclaw called after her before disappearing.

Lillie faced the door and slowly grasped the handle; she was fairly confident that she knew what was waiting on the other side, but nevertheless she was nervous. She twisted the handle and as she opened the door, it changed becoming larger and darker, until she was opening the door to her dormitory. She looked over her shoulder; the pseudo-common room had vanished and had been replaced by the girl's bathroom. Lillie walked over to her bed and sat on her trunk, feeling slightly disappointed; the place that she most wanted to go had been her dormitory.

She opened the small cupboard in her bedside table and rummaged around inside, looking for her Transfiguration textbook. She might as well get going on her homework seeing as, despite what Ravenclaw had said, she did not know what, or who. While she was searching, Lillie accidentally knocked a small vial out of place, which fell to the floor.

At first, Lillie thought that it was the tarry potion that she needed to drink at midnight tonight (because it was a new moon) but the vial was actually filled with a bright golden liquid. Curious, Lillie picked up the little bottle and examined it; she couldn't remember where or why she had it. She uncorked it and had a sniff: it smelt familiar, but Lillie didn't know why. Whatever the smell was, Lillie was suddenly full of confidence and she decided just to drink the potion.

As she did this, Lillie remembered where she had gotten this: Teddy had given it to her back in the first year; he had called it 'Lucky Potion'. At the thought of Teddy, Lillie smiled and decided that she wanted to speak to him about anything. So she walked out of the room, noticing on her way out that the passage to the Chamber had gone.

Once she was in the spiral staircase that led up the tower and down to the common room, Lillie decided to head upstairs to the upper year dormitories, which was somewhere she had never been before. One floor up, she stopped outside two doors which she knew must be the fourth year dorms, she opened the one on her left and walked into the boys dormitory.

The dormitory was much the same as the third year one, except that there were only nine beds. Teddy was lounging on one of these, presumably his, reading a magazine about Quidditch, but he looked up when Lillie came in.

"Lillie!" said Teddy happily. "I thought you had work."

"I do, but it can wait. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for what I did at breakfast, that was really rude and you didn't deserve it at all," said Lillie. "I'd just had a conversation with Vicky and was a little confused."

"That happens to me a lot," said Teddy, a slight frown creeping into his face. "I don't know what's happened, she's suddenly become, I don't know exactly… I don't want to say bitch because that's too strong. She's different than she used to be and I'm not sure I like it."

"I know what you mean; I've hardly spoken to her this term, and when I do she seems alright, but then I'll see her with some others and she'll be showing off or doing something like that." Lillie sighed.

"I wonder why she's doing it though, well I suppose the answer is obvious: she's a teenage girl," sighed Teddy.

"So am I," said Lillie half-jokingly. "Please don't tell me I'm like that."

"You're not, but I think you grew up a long time ago. You had to; you've seen far too much for someone your age, or my age or any age really," said Teddy sadly.

Lillie gulped, and tried to bite back the tears that always threatened her when this topic came up, but despite her efforts, a single tear ran down her face. Before she had time to turn away, Teddy reached forward and wiped it off with his thumb, then before she really knew what had happened; Teddy had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close to him.

Lillie broke away after about five seconds; Teddy looked at her and smiled gently. Normal Lillie would have blurted everything out then, but lucky Lillie held back and asked, "Is that trip to Hogsmeade still open?"

"Of course," said Teddy, and he got up off his bed.

Lillie went back to her dormitory to grab her cloak and the little bag of money that Fleur had insisted on giving her when she was at Shell Cottage and then she headed downstairs where Teddy was waiting for her in the common room.

They headed out of the common room together and set off towards the grounds. Through the windows, Lillie could see the sun reflected brightly in the crisp white snow. The front doors of the castle were slightly ajar and Teddy and Lillie went out into the December sun silently. The snow had been trodden down by all the pupils who had gone home, but at the fork to Hogsmeade, the snow was untouched, like a white blanket over a large bed.

They trudged through the snow and Teddy slipped his arm around Lillie's shoulders and drew her in closer against him; Lillie didn't mind at all, she didn't even feel embarrassed.

"Where should we go?" asked Teddy.

Lillie didn't even have to think about it because Felix had given her the answer immediately, "The Shrieking Shack. I've never actually been."

Teddy's expression hardened fleetingly but then he nodded and said, "The Shack was built for my dad – my real dad, not Harry."

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want to go somewhere else then?" said Lillie, but she already knew his answer.

He gulped. "No, I think I need to… I feel like I should…" Teddy trailed off.

"I feel the same way," said Lillie. "About my parents' graves, and Milo's, that's my brother."

Teddy gave Lillie a light squeeze and she moved closer into him. They walked on in silence for a bit; they had now reached the High Street and they looked at the shops on either side as they passed. Lillie looked at Teddy, his eyes seemed a little wet and there was something in his face that reminded Lillie of something she had seen in her own face. She thought she knew what it was, but there were no words for it, not really. Sadness – not enough; depression was just wrong.

They reached the outer boundary of the Shack and Teddy removed his arm from around Lillie's shoulder but did not move away from her.

"Can I ask why it was built for him? Is it because of his… condition?" she asked gently.

"What? Oh. Yeah," said Teddy.

Lillie looked up at him again: he was staring straight at the shack, a shadow across his face. "It's okay Ted," said Lillie. "I'll always be here for you."

Teddy laughed, but it was very strange and Lillie wasn't sure whether it was sarcastic or not. But before she had time to say anything else Teddy said, "I'm sorry."

"Why?" asked Lillie.

"Because look at me; I'm pathetic! I should be the one comforting you not the other way round," he burst out.

"Teddy, I don't mind. It's okay," urged Lillie.

"Thanks," said Teddy, and he smiled a genuine smile.

During their little conversation – if you could call it that – they had drifted apart slightly and Lillie suddenly decided to close the gap. She took a purposeful step towards Teddy and wrapped her arms around him pulled him into an embrace. Once again he laughed, and this time Lillie was sure that it was authentic, and he hugged her back.

After a few seconds, they pulled away and Lillie looked up into his eyes, the strange shadow within them had faded and he looked the happiest Lillie had seen him since – they were kissing.

Lillie had no idea how it happened, but there they were, Teddy's lips on hers. Only for a couple of seconds, but nevertheless it was enough.

When he pulled away Teddy had a large grin on his face and Lillie could feel one growing on hers. "Three Broomsticks?" asked Teddy.

"Anywhere but Madam Pudifoot's," said Teddy. When Lillie looked at him questioningly he just waved his hand and grimaced.

"Three Broomsticks it is then, unless you know anywhere better," said Lillie.

"Oh, actually I do: there's a new place opened quite recently where the Hog's Head used to be; that's supposed to be really good," replied Teddy.

"That sounds promising. Does it have a name?"

"It does but I can't remember it."

"We can," said a pair of voices from there right.

Teddy froze and turned his head while Lillie whirled around. They both relaxed slightly; it was only Fred and George.

"How long have you been following us?" asked Teddy.

"Following? We weren't following," said George in an overly hurt voice.

"Yeah," agreed Fred. "We were just going to the Shack when we heard voices."

"We wouldn't follow anyone!" they finished together.

Teddy rolled his eyes slightly while Lillie laughed. "Can I ask what it _is_ called?" asked Lillie.

"The Thestral's wings," said George. "Now you two lovebirds leave us in peace and let us visit the Shack. Honestly, kids these days."

"How do you know about us if you weren't following us?" demanded Teddy.

Fred laughed. "We didn't."

"Until now," finished George.

"We were joking," they said together.

"What?" asked Teddy, his ears going slightly pink.

"Are we the first to know then?" asked Fred gleefully.

"Ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies," said Lillie. She had never said this before, but she had Felix to guide her.

"I like it," said Fred.

"Bye, then," said George. The twins then turned around and walked off towards the Shrieking Shack.

Teddy laughed, and the two of them headed off to 'The Thestral's Wings'.

…

The Thestral's Wings was crowded, even more crowded than the Three Broomsticks would have been. There was a large sign hanging by two chains above the door, on it were imprinted, two large leathery-looking wings; despite the wind, the sign was completely still, something which Lillie suspected was down to magic.

The interior was comfortable enough, with wooden chairs, benches and the occasional padded sofa placed haphazardly around many different tables. From the noise coming from upstairs Lillie assumed that there was additional seating up there.

A waitress came over to them and looked at them expectantly. She was average height with mousy, shoulder length hair and an oddly featureless face.

"Table for two, please," said Teddy. "Somewhere a bit peaceful, if that's possible."

The waitress laughed, "Doubt it. Have you tried carrying a tray through all this lot?" She waved her hand, gesturing at the bustle of people. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you," said Lillie.

The waitress moved off, gesturing for Lillie and Teddy to follow her. It was difficult, but eventually they reached a set of stairs and headed upstairs. The second floor was slightly less crowded than the first and the waitress led them over to a corner which was a little quieter than the rest of the place.

"Anything to drink?" she asked.

"Two butterbeers," said Teddy.

"Alright, I'll bring you some menus in just a tick." She moved back across the room and was soon out of sight.

A slightly awkward silence fell between them. Neither of them knew what to say, and Lillie felt the weightless feeling that she'd had ever since drinking the Felix Felicis wear off, presumably along with the effects of the potion.

Suddenly Teddy laughed, and after a second or two, Lillie joined in. She had no idea what was so funny, but she felt the need to laugh as though she had just been told the funniest joke in the world.

After about a minute, the laughter died down and the waitress returned with two butterbeers and two menus.

"Look at us," said Lillie when she had left. "This morning, I had no idea that we could ever be more than friends, I didn't even want to be. But now…" she trailed off.

"I've wanted too for a while, if I'm honest," said Teddy.

"Really? Since when?" asked Lillie, astonished.

"Ever since that night on the beach when I was… not feeling so well," he looked around, but no one seemed to have the slightest interest in them. Lillie understood why he did not want people to find out about his condition.

"I never knew," she replied. "But, oh. What about Victoire?"

"What about Victoire," asked Teddy, bemused.

"She told me this morning that she liked you. That's when I first realised that I did too."

"Victoire? I thought she wanted to go out with Michael Bilding," he said.

"That was back in the first and second year. She told me this morning that she had feelings for you, I thought about what she said and realised that… that she wasn't the only one," blabbed Lillie. She regretted it almost immediately.

"Lillie how could you?" asked Teddy, a bit shocked. "Vicky's like a sister to me and she's one of your best friends. I'm a guy and I think that what we've done is wrong. If my dating you means that things between us and her will become awkward, then I won't. That's like, if your brother was alive, ignoring him so that you could go out with one of his friends."

At first Lillie had been accepting what Teddy had said, even the bit about them not dating, but the last comment was too much. "How _could_ you bring up Milo in conversation like that? Don't you realise that I would do absolutely anything for him to be alive right now! I loved my family, Teddy. I still do! I accept that I hadn't thought it through completely, but I'm only human. You have no idea of what I'm going through right now."

"Lillie, I'm sorry. Just calm down. I do know what you're going through; I'm one of the few people who you can relate to. My parents are dead too in case you've forgotten."

"That's only part of it," replied Lillie, acidly.

"What else is there, Lillie? Please, tell me. I want to help you," begged Teddy. Lillie could here the sincerity and care in his voice and could see the worry in his eyes, but she chose to ignore it.

"What else?" Lillie nearly screamed and a few heads turned to look at them momentarily before resuming their conversation. In a quieter, but just as venomous voice Lillie continued, "I'll tell you what else. Every day, I live in constant fear that my aunt will come and take me away again and that the second time, I won't be found in time. Then I'll break and be sacrificed for the return of Voldemort. Then I'm scared that I will lose my potion, or forget to drink it one day and that the curse will take effect. The worst thing is, I don't even know what the curse is or what it will do to me."

Lillie stood up to leave and Teddy said meekly, "Lillie, I had no idea. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Lillie ignored the question and added more coldly than ever before, "And also you don't know what it's like hearing your family mentioned. You never mentioned, I knew mine for almost eleven years, you never met yours, so you don't what it's like to lose them like I have."

She turned and left, she heard Teddy call from behind her, "At least you have memories, I don't even have that, at least you know what it's like to have a family."

Lillie said nothing but sped up, not even trying to hold back the tears that now streamed down her face.

…

When Lillie entered the common room, she saw Dan and Eric lounging on a sofa, while Chris sat opposite them, scribbling away furiously on his parchment. Dan looked up as she came in. "Lillie? Are you ok?" he asked, for Lillie knew she must look terrible, she had barely stopped crying. She saw Chris's head snap up from his work and look at her, but she didn't have time to register it before she sprinted off up the stairs. Chris leapt after her and caught up with her just before she reached the third year dormitories.

"Lillie, what's up?" he said, his voice gentle and soothing. Lillie made to move away, but Chris caught her wrist; his hand was pleasantly warm on her cold skin.

"I have had the most confusing day of my life," she said trying to keep her voice calm. "I just need some time to think it over."

Chris took the hint and released her hand and watched forlornly as she opened the door to her dormitory closing it quickly behind her.

…

Lillie walked across the room and dropped her cloak on the floor before collapsing on her bed. The grief and anger that had consumed her earlier were once again creeping up on her. But she fought back, she tried to defend Teddy against herself and when she had once again regained partial control over herself, she sat up. She noticed the empty vial of Felix Felicis lying innocently on the floor next to her bed. She looked it and laughed.

"What goes up must come down," she said bitterly to herself. She looked hopefully to the patch of wall where the entrance to the chamber of Ravenclaw had been, but it was once again smooth, plain wall.

She leaned forward and picked up the vial. There was still a tiny bit of potion left at the bottom, and Lillie decided to tip this into her mouth before throwing the vial away.

Almost immediately there was a knock on the door. Lillie headed over to it and opened it, revealing Dan Short. She smiled a bit and wiped her face. "I would say come in but you can't," she said and Dan laughed hesitantly.

**Author's Note:**

**Phew, I have finally churned out this chapter, it took me long enough. I have written and re-written every line, but I still don't think it's right. Oh well, drop a review and tell me what you thing.**

**Thanks to Zheeba89 and the usual AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker.**


	21. Before the Sun Rises

Silver Lining

Chapter 20 (hooray): Before the Sun Rises

As she stepped outside, Lillie felt the short-lived effects of the Felix Felicis wear off and her moodiness crept up on her again. But she did her best to ignore it and smiled as she asked Dan what he wanted.

"To talk to you," was his answer. "We can go to the common roomay; Chris and Eric have gone to the library."

"Okay," Lillie said slowly. She had no idea why Dan would want to talk her, unless it was about work perhaps.

Despite her confusion Lillie followed Dan down into the common room and across it to sit in a couple of armchairs by the window. They didn't speak for the first thirty seconds or so and Dan avoided Lillie's gaze as she tried to catch his eye.

"Are you going to say anything?" asked Lillie slightly impatiently; she was still cut up about Teddy and she also felt a bit guilty about what she had said.

"Yeah, I will. I just don't know how to say it. Or where to start for that matter," he replied calmly.

"How about the beginning?"

Dan laughed, "The problem is, I don't know what the beginning is, only what the end is."

"Well then say it as simply as you can and I promise I won't get angry," sighed Lillie.

Dan raised his eyebrows at her; Lillie raised hers back and he smiled. "Okay then, here goes. Basically, Chris really likes you. I mean he _really_ likes you." He looked at her hesitantly but Lillie told him to go on. "He's liked you for a really long time, but he's too embarrassed to tell anyone, particularly you. When you walked in, it was obvious that something bad had happened; for god's sake, even _I _knew that something was wrong."

"He spoke to me," said Lillie evasively, she was confident of where this was going and she didn't like it. "I told him what happened."

"Well you obviously didn't because when he came back down, he looked even more worried than before. The thing is: he's one of my best friends and when something bad happens to you, and _a lot_ of bad stuff seems to happen to you, he gets really cut up about it, but obviously he's too proud to say or show it. But, Lillie, he just wants you to talk to him more and I just want him to be happy again."

At this point Lillie burst out laughing; she didn't really know why, there wasn't anything particularly funny about the situation, but she couldn't stop laughing. She glanced at Dan, who looked taken aback, as well as slightly offended and reined it in. "I'm sorry, Dan," she said. "It's just that… that was possibly the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

Dan looked relieved and grinned. "I'm sorry; I've never done anything like that before and I had no idea what to say. But, seriously, think about what I said and at least tell Chris what happened today; not our conversation, but whatever happened before."

"Sure," said Lillie getting up to leave.

"Lillie," Dan said seriously.

She turned to face him. "Dan, Chris is one of my best friends; I wouldn't want to deliberately upset him. I will tell him, but at the moment I'm not even sure what to think about. I'm so confused and worried and quite frankly a little scared and I just need some time to set things straight."

Dan tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't and ended up blurting out, "I thought I was supposed to be the cheesy one."

Lillie laughed. "There's always room for cheese."

She walked back across the common room and headed back up the stairs and into her dorm. She walked over to her bed and, although it was still very early, fell asleep immediately.

…

When Lillie woke up again, it was dark, very dark. She headed over to the window and gazed outside; there was no moon, but a faint glow could be seen over the mountain tops in the east. Wait, there was no moon.

"SHIT!" shouted Lillie, panic eating away at her. She tore back to her bed and leapt across it landing heavily beside her bedside table. She threw open the small cupboard and saw it sitting there menacingly. The small bottle was full to the brim with a black tar-like potion.

Lillie grabbed it and pulled the stopper out and tipped the potion into her throat swallowing eagerly. Normally when Lillie took the potion, it gave her an odd filling sensation and she would go back to bed as though she had just had a nice big meal. But this time the sensation was tiny barely noticeable.

She looked at the clock above Parvati's bed, which told her that it was eight-thirty.

She decided to head for the hospital wing immediately when an all too familiar pain crept into her fingers.

Horrified she looked down at her hands; the small white scars were growing and growing. One of them slowly started to open as though there was an invisible knife slicing through her. Lillie screamed as the pain once again overpowered her.

She fell to the floor as another crevice appeared along her thumb. Lillie screamed again and she heard movement. Someone had thrown open the door but a wall had appeared.

"LILLIE!" she heard someone shout from across the wall.

"Chris!" she called back feebly and then screamed again as another cut opened on her cheek sending a trickle of warm blood down her face.

She heard Chris shout again and there was a thud as he threw himself against the wall.

"Lillian!" cried a horrified voice beside her; a second later Rowena Ravenclaw came into view. She stooped beside Lillie and murmured a few words; Lillie felt a slight soothing sensation and the pain dulled slightly. Lillie started to feel extremely tired.

Ravenclaw then headed over to the stone filled door frame and placed her hands against it before disappearing.

As Lillie watched the stone wall began to melt away revealing Chris and several other people crowded on the stairs. Chris hurdled the wall before it had entirely disappeared and rushed over to Lillie. He had just reached her when blackness engulfed Lillie.

…

**Teddy's POV:**

Teddy was on his way back from breakfast when the commotion started. He rushed up the staircase to find out what had happened. He had just reached the third year dormitories, where several second and third years crowded were crowded onto the stairs when the wall seemed to melt away.

A boy rushed into the room but Teddy didn't spare him a glance, he was too busy staring at what was in the room. Lillie lay unconscious on the floor bleeding from her hands and face.

The boy, who Teddy recognised as Chris, reached her and tried to pick her up. "HELP ME!" he shouted at the unmoving people outside. Teddy jumped forward and rushed over to them. Teddy grabbed Lillie's legs while Chris took her under the arms; together they lifted her up and carried her across the room.

"Where do we go?" Chris cried.

"McGonagall's office," answered Teddy. "You," he said nodding at one of the others, "Go get Madam Cunaxa and send her there as well.

The boy nodded and sprinted down the stairs. Teddy and Chris followed at a slightly slower pace. Teddy kept glancing at Lillie and realised that more cuts were opening and he sped up. Soon enough they were out of the common room and racing along the corridors.

Not long after they ran into Professor Stokes. "Hold it bo-," he started. "Here, let me," he said and took Lillie from the two boys, holding her as gently as he could.

"We're going to McGonagall," panted Teddy. "Madam Cunaxa should be there too."

"Right," said Professor Stokes and set off in the direction of McGonagall's office, going much faster than Chris and Teddy had been.

A few minutes later the three of them and Lillie's unconscious body were crowded on the ascending staircase leading up to McGonagall's study. They burst in without knocking; McGonagall was up and wearing a tartan dressing gown over her flannel night-dress.

Professor Stokes unpinned his cloak and splayed it on the floor, gently placing Lillie on top of it. She was unconscious but her chest was still rising and falling slowly.

There were now several more cuts on her arms and face, and blood had started to drip from her feet and legs too.

"Tergeo," hushed Professor Stokes quietly and a lot of the blood disappeared, and Teddy could see that the wounds weren't as bad as they seemed. But blood still oozed out.

"Vulnera sanentur!" This time it was McGonagall; for a few seconds the bleeding slowed down and almost stopped, but then it renewed again. She cast the spell again and Professor Stokes did too.

At that point a panting Madam Cunaxa burst in followed by the boy that Teddy had sent to fetch her. Professors Stokes and McGonagall moved aside to let her pass.

"Nick, take the children out of here; this is no place for them. Then get to St. Mungo's as quickly as possible, and get a healer here now," said Professor McGonagall.

Teddy and Chris started to protest, so did the other boy, but one glare from McGonagall shut them up. Professor Stokes took them outside and down the gargoyle staircase. He looked at the three boys and promised that he would keep them informed. Then he returned to McGonagall's study in order to floo away to St Mungo's Teddy assumed.

Teddy rounded on Chris and demanded, "What happened?"

"I don't know," moaned Chris, and Teddy's anger evaporated away; he realised that Chris wasn't to blame and he shouldn't be angry, he should be worried instead. "I was about to head down to breakfast when I heard a scream. I left the dormitory and realised it was coming from Lillie's dorm. I knew it was her because all the other girls in our year had gone home. I opened the door, but I couldn't get in, because-,"

"Because it's a girls' dormitory," finished off Teddy darkly.

"Exactly, but the wall kind of melted away. I don't actually know what happened, but to be honest I couldn't have cared less."

"What should we do now?" asked the other boy.

"I'm staying here," vowed Teddy.

"Me too," said Chris.

"I think I'll go to breakfast," said the boy. "I can't sit here for ages; I'm way too jumpy." Chris grunted. "Do either of you want me to get you something while I'm there?"

Teddy shook his head and Chris said, "No thanks, Dan." Dan shrugged and retreated down the corridor.

…

**In the Headmistress' Study****:**

Back in the Headmistress' study Madam Cunaxa was hunched over Lillie uttering various incantations under her breath. Lillie's condition did seem to be improving slightly, Madam Cunaxa had slowed the blood flow, but she was unable to stop it. She also managed to close some of the cuts; but in the time it took her to close one, another would appear elsewhere.

McGonagall saw for the first time the true extent of the injuries that Lillie had received when she had been captured by a man she had once trusted.

It was several minutes before Professor Stokes came back with a Healer, who wasted no time with greetings and just crouched beside Lillie and also started casting spells over her.

Together with Madam Cunaxa, the Healer managed to seal more cuts than were opening, and after about two hours, they had managed to seal them all. The Healer waved his wand once more and the dried blood vanished, leaving Lillie looking extremely pale. The Healer and Madam Cunaxa had had to remove a lot of her clothes and now everyone could see the intricate web of scars all over Lillie's body.

"You can keep her at the hospital wing here," said the Healer. "Her condition is relatively stable."

"Thank you," said Professor McGonagall extending her hand. The Healer shook it before disappearing within a wall of Emerald green flames.

Professor Stokes reached forward and wrapped Lillie up in his cloak, which she was lying on. Then he pointed his wand at the pitifully small pile and muttered, "Locomotor corpus." Lillie's body gently lifted two or three feet into the air where she hovered.

Professor Stokes and Madam Cunaxa made their way towards the stairs and manoeuvred Lillie carefully inside. They descended slowly and when they stopped at the bottom and the gargoyle had sprung aside, they saw Chris Timberlake and Teddy Lupin waiting for them at the bottom.

"She's fine," said Professor Stokes and the two boys relaxed and moved towards them.

"But she's still fragile!" cut in Madam Cunaxa. "I'm going to have to sort her out quite a bit, so I'm afraid you won't be able to visit her for at least a week."

"A week!" cried Teddy.

"Yes, Mr Lupin, a week. No exceptions," replied Madam Cunaxa sternly before bustling off down the corridor.

"Be grateful that she's alive. Madam Cunaxa worked wonders up there," scolded Professor Stokes, but there was a smile on his face and before he followed Madam Cunaxa he added, "I'll see what I can do."

…

When Lillie's consciousness returned, she was lying on a soft warm bed and bright light seemed to burn against her eyelids. Her first thought was that she had died and this was the afterlife, but then she realised that she wouldn't still be in pain if that was true.

She then realised that she was probably in the hospital wing or back at St Mungo's again. She didn't try to open her eyes immediately; she had been in this position enough times before to know that that wouldn't work.

Instead she tried to call out, 'Hello.' But her tongue wasn't working so it sounded more like she was moaning, 'Erro."

There was a bustle of movement from across the room and a man with an American accent spoke, "Lillie? Lillie, are you awake?"

Lillie nodded slowly, but it didn't hurt so she did it again, slightly more emphatically. The American man then called, "Isabel, she woke up!"

A door opened and Lillie heard a few hurried footsteps across the floor. A second later she heard another voice, female this time, how she felt. "Okay," Lillie said, although it sounded weak. She opened her eyes slightly and squinted up into Madam Cunaxa's face.

"It's lucky you took some of the potion before the sun rose, otherwise we would have been too late," said Madam Cunaxa. "As it is, you're alright and you'll be up and out of here in about 10 days." Lillie nodded silently. "Tell me, Miss Whitehead, it's been well over a year since your… incident, surely by now you know when the new moon is?"

"I do, I mean I did. I fell asleep before midnight and… well, you know what happened next," explained Lillie meekly.

"Yes, I do," agreed the nurse, before bustling off again.

Lillie looked around; she was lying on top of one of the hospital wing beds wrapped in a cloak she didn't recognise. The other beds in the ward were empty but there was someone sitting in a chair against the far wall, but Lillie couldn't make out who it was.

She opened her eyes fully, and rubbed them a bit and looked back to the person in the chair; it was Professor Stokes. Lillie realised that he must have been the American she had heard earlier. He got up and walked towards her, "That's my cloak you got there," he grinned, nodding at the cloak.

Lillie smiled back and started to take it off, but when she saw what she had underneath she swiftly pulled it back over herself. "Don't worry about it," asked Professor Stokes. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," said Lillie again.

Professor Stokes raised his eyebrows. "Why did you forget your medication then?"

Lillie hesitated, but she knew that she could trust Professor Stokes. "Boys," she answered simply.

"I won't ask," he said. "Get well soon, you can keep the cloak." He made his way towards the door.

"Thank you, Sir," said Lillie. "Where are you going?" asked Lillie. She didn't want him to go; she liked the company.

"You need rest, besides; there are a couple of _boys_ who are probably waiting for me outside my study preparing to interrogate me." Lillie blushed and Professor Stokes winked at her before leaving the hospital wing. When he had gone, Lillie found that it didn't take long for her to fall asleep again.

…

When she woke up, Lillie already felt better and most of the pain had gone. Madam Cunaxa fussed over her for a bit before giving her some lunch and returning to her study. Lillie hadn't eaten for a long time and so it didn't take long for her to devour her sausage and chips.

And then she thought. She thought about Teddy and she thought about Chris. She thought about everything Dan had told her and she started to feel dizzy so she started again.

Chris and Teddy were her friends, they were her best friends and Lillie didn't want to risk ruining that. But on the other hand, she felt something more for Teddy which she didn't feel for Chris. But according to Dan, Chris liked her.

"Boys!" she cried exasperatedly to herself.

For the next few days, Lillie wasn't allowed any visitors, so she had plenty of time to think it over. When people were allowed to visit her she had come up with a fair conclusion.

People were only allowed in one at a time, and the first person that Lillie had to face was Teddy.

When he came in and saw Lillie sitting up in bed waiting for him, it was obvious how relieved he was, and for a moment Lillie was tempted to throw her plan away and try again, but she didn't. At first, Lillie enjoyed a non-chalant conversation with Teddy, but both of them knew that it was inevitable.

It took Lillie a while to work up the courage but eventually she sighed, "Teddy, we need to talk about what happened the other day. I just want to say I'm sorry and that-,"

"No, we don't," cut in Teddy emphatically. But for the record, I'm sorry too. I've spent all this time worrying that the last thing I ever said to you would be that you were lucky that your family died when they did. That would be terrible."

"But your right, I do have memories, and I forgot that you don't, let's just forget the whole thing, please," Lillie begged.

"I have my grandma, and Harry, Ginny and their kids. Anyway I'm basically part of the Weasley family, and that's plenty to be getting on with."

After that the conversation moved on rapidly, but it was not as comfortable as it had been earlier, and Teddy soon left.

The next person to come in was Dan Short, who Lillie hadn't expected to see.

"Hey Dan," she said.

"Hey Lillie, how are you?"

"I'm fine, a little tired, and exceptionally bored."

Dan smiled, "Well, I'm just here to say get well soon. But listen, Chris is coming in next and I just want you to remember what I said. I told Chris that I told you what I did."

"Trust me," said Lillie. "I've been thinking about it for a week. But I can't do it Dan, not now anyway." Lillie was secretly glad that Dan had done the hard bit for her.

Dan's face fell, "I'm sure you have your reasons. Well I hope you feel better soon. Will they let you out before Christmas?"

"No, I'm not allowed out until the day after. Madam Cunaxa says too much excitement will be bad for me." Lillie rolled her eyes.

"Typical," snorted Dan before leaving.

"Thanks," Lillie called after him, but she wasn't sure whether or not he had heard.

Then Chris came in.

"Lillie! Thank God you're okay," he rushed over and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks to you," Lillie said although her voice was slightly muffled by Chris' arm.

Chris shrugged but he was obviously over the moon.

They lapsed into silence, neither of them wanted to talk about it, but they both knew that they had to. It was Chris who broke the deadlock. "Have you made up your mind?"

"About what?" Lillie asked, in a vain attempt to ignore the topic.

"Come on, Lil' you know perfectly well what!" cried Chris.

"I'm sorry Chris, we- I can't. I don't know. I don't feel that way about you and anyway I don't want to ruin what we already have. I know I sound fake, but for goodness' sake I'm only 13. I don't what love is or any of that, I'm not ready for this, I tried but it's too complicated and I'm not ready. We have loads of time; we don't have to decide everything now," Lillie explained.

Chris opened his mouth, and then closed it again, in the end he merely nodded.

"I'm sorry Chris," implored Lillie.

"You're right, though. I'm only 14 it's not like it's now or never. If you're not ready then I'm fine with that and I understand…" he trailed off. "Well, I'm glad your better." He turned and left.

When he had left, Richard came in. "What did you do to my brother?" he joked.

"What?" asked Lillie looking up. "Oh, hey Richard, how are you?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Relieved, in a kind of bad way," murmured Lillie.

"Oh. _That's_ what you did to my brother," Richard realised.

"Yeah," said Lillie. "Listen, Richard, it's great to see you and everything, but I don't think I can deal with anyone else today.

"Oh, thanks," said Richard sarcastically, trying to cheer Lillie up. But he knew she was being serious and he obligingly left. When he was outside, he heard him say, "Lillie's not accepting any more visitors, you'll have to come back tomorrow." Lillie made a mental note to thank him for that later.

"What have I done?" Lillie asked the empty room.

To her astonishment a voice replied, it was coming from a portrait hanging above the door to the nurse's study. Lillie recognised the man as Albus Dumbledore an old Hogwarts Headmaster. "There's only one way to find out, and that's to keep living your life."

**Author's Note:**

**I'm so sorry I took so long to write this, but by all accounts I shouldn't be, I have really important exams soon.**

**A massive, massive thank you to Zheeba89, who helped me plan and brush up this story, you were unimaginably helpful.**

**Thanks also to AnimeFlowerGirl and to Facetaker and to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.**

**I don't know when the next one will come out. But after June 14 I should have plenty of time, so expect a lot from me then.**

**Please review with any thoughts, ideas, comments or questions that you have, good or bad, anything is welcome.**


	22. All Hands on Deck

Silver Lining

Chapter 21: All Hands on Deck

It wasn't long before Lillie was out of the hospital wing, not by her standards anyway; she regained her freedom a few days before the holidays ended. This meant that Lillie had to do a lot of work in not a lot of time. This didn't bother Lillie, however; she wasn't really in the mood for people so she spent almost all the time shut up in her dormitory where no one could disturb her.

When the other girls returned, the only external contact Lillie had had, had been a few short conversations with Teddy and a couple of other well-wishers. She hadn't said a word to Chris, and she didn't plan to.

Gill was the first to interrogate her. "Lillie! I heard about what happened. Are you OK?" she almost screamed at Lillie.

"Hey Gill, have a good holiday?" Lillie avoided the question.

"Yes, but that's not important. How are _you_?" she asked again.

"I'm fine. I don't really want to talk about it," muttered Lillie.

"I understand. Well, I'm glad you're better anyway," shrugged Gill and Lillie smiled at her. By then most of the other girls had entered the dorm and nobody else decided to ask Lillie about her 'incident'. Most of them thought that Lillie had had an unusual number of accidents, and Jenny wasn't even surprised about what happened.

The other girls spoke to one another about their holiday, but it wasn't soon before everyone was in bed, except Etta and Parvati who were whispering in their corner.

The next morning, Lillie was the first one to get up. She washed and dressed quickly and made her way down to breakfast before anyone else had even started to get up. Lillie was one of the few people in the Great Hall. She sat at the very far end of the Ravenclaw table, and ate slowly as the hall began to fill up, and then, even more slowly, start to empty.

Lillie finished her waffles and headed for the Entrance Hall, but halfway there, she was intercepted by Chris Timberlake. "Lillie, hey, how are you? I haven't seen you in ages," he sounded slightly sad and hurt.

"Oh," Lillie swallowed. "I'm fine. I've had to do a lot of work." Her voice was higher than usual.

"You've been avoiding me, haven't you?" he asked suspiciously.

"No! I've just been busy. Really busy," she wailed.

Chris raised his eyebrows. "Is it because of what I said?" he asked, earnestly.

"I don't know what you mean," said Lillie, her voice even higher than before.

"Lillie. Please, can't you just forget about it?" he implored.

Lillie gave a horrible, fake and high pitched laugh. "Of course I can. Forgotten!"

"Lillie, let's talk about this," reasoned Chris.

Lillie knew he was right, but she couldn't bring herself to accept this. So instead she simply said, "I would love to chat, but I have to go get ready for Muggle Studies."

"You don't even _do_ Muggle Studies," he said, frustration evident in his voice.

"Oh, don't I?" she said in the same fake-sweet voice. "I meant Transfiguration." Lillie smiled a sweet, fake smile and pushed past Chris on her way out. She heard Chris call after her, but she ignored it; her face fell and she moved faster, but she knew that Chris would be decent enough to leave her alone.

Lillie ran out of the Great Hall and headed up to the girls' dormitory. Apart from Isa, they were all in there getting their stuff ready. Lillie consulted the timetable on her bedside table; it turned out that she did actually have Transfiguration. She swore under her breath. She had to sit next to Chris in Transfiguration.

She contemplated flunking, but then questions would be asked, and questions were the last thing Lillie wanted. She decided that she would just have to brave the class and so she walked down the corridors with Parvati and the MacDougal twins who were chatting loudly about something. Lillie wasn't paying attention.

Parvati pushed the door open and the four of them walked in. Several people pointed at Lillie and whispered, but this was to be expected after the event of the Christmas holidays. These didn't bother Lillie. The only thing that bothered Lillie was the look she received from the boy sitting at the end of the room. Chris wasn't looking at her with distaste, or hurt; he was looking at her with indifference and that hurt more than anything he could have said. He didn't care.

Lillie took her seat. Chris would normally have said something, but he just looked straight ahead. Lillie leaned over to say something, but Chris spoke before she could. "Save it." Lillie withdrew and hung her head, her eyes boring into the desk.

The door shut and Lillie looked up. Professor Stokes walked in. "Okay, we're going to be working in pairs today, but first I want your essays on the works of Lorraine Switcher."

He started to move around collecting the essays, when he got to Lillie and Chris, the latter spoke, "Sir, I'm not feeling great. Do you mind if I go to the hospital wing?"

"Of course you can; Lillie you'll have to work with Parvati and Andy," said Professor Stokes. Lillie nodded and took her stuff over to Parvati. She knew that Chris wasn't ill; he had started to avoid her. But Lillie couldn't blame him.

The lesson progressed agonisingly slowly and when the bell rang Lillie was one of the first people out of the classrooms. Or she would have been if Professor Stokes hadn't called her back just as she was about to go through the door. "Lillie, can I talk to you?"

Lillie stopped and stood inside the door as she waited for everyone else to leave. "What?" she asked impatiently; she knew she was being too rude, even for Professor Stokes.

"Firstly, don't talk to me like that," he said.

"Sorry, sir," Lillie answered meekly.

"That's alright. Are you sure you're alright, Lillie? You seemed a little, I don't know, down today."

"I'm fine," she lied quickly.

"Don't lie to me, Lillie. I used to be an auror back in the States," he raised his eyebrows expectantly, but when Lillie didn't say anything he sighed and opened the door. Lillie moved towards it, but Professor Stokes' arm blocked her path. Lillie looked up at him and he caught her eye and stared right into it. "You know I'm just trying to help you, right?" Lillie nodded and Professor Stokes raised his arm and let Lillie pass.

The rest of the day was uneventful and Lillie didn't see Chris until after tea. She was walking alone across the flagstone floor of the Entrance Hall when she saw Chris stroll down the corridor from the hospital wing.

"Chris," she called. He looked in her direction and stiffened. He nodded slightly; Lillie accepted that this was the only acknowledgement she would get. "I want to talk to you. I'm really so-,"

"You had your chance to talk, you should have taken it," cut in Chris, darkly.

"I know, I should've, but…" she trailed off.

"But what? Why are you suddenly so keen to talk now?" he demanded.

Lillie felt tears burn at the back of her eyes, but she fought them down. She was a Whitehead; Whiteheads didn't cry. She took a deep breath as Chris continued to glare at her. "I don't know."

"Great! Bloody fantastic. You refused to speak to me, so why should I speak to you? Give me a reason. I beg you," he cried. Lillie recoiled from the contempt in his voice. But she had always thought of herself as a decent actress and so she put on a brave face and stepped towards him.

"There isn't a good reason, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't," she pleaded.

"It does in my book," he said venomously. He started walking towards her, muttering under his breath; Lillie thought he was going to curse her but he just walked straight past. Lillie caught a snippet of his muttering. "…any common sense. Girls! Maybe it's just _muggle _girls. I can't deal with it, all this…"

Lillie turned in disgust, "_Excuse_ me? What did you say?" she shouted after Chris' retreating back, but he didn't turn around.

He walked into the Great Hall and Lillie stared at the closing door. It was caught just before the end of its journey. Mindy Bamforth pushed it open, accompanied by several other Slytherins; Lillie barely even noticed them.

"Hey muddy," taunted Mindy and Lillie's fists clench. "Muddy! Muuuddy! My dad's coming out of Azkaban tomorrow. Your lovely aunt pulled a few strings. _Purse_ strings," she laughed and the others joined in, creating a horrible cacophony. "You know what he's going to do muddy? He's coming after you, and he's going to spill your filthy blood all over the floor."

The gang leered at her and moved closer. Lillie was shaking; she wasn't sure if it was out of anger or fear: probably both. One of Mandy's larger thugs, a boy called Hans Jorgensen, advanced to the front of the group and cracked his knuckles.

"Don't you dare!" she warned him, although there was nothing she would be able to do seeing as she was much weaker and had left her wand upstairs.

They closed in. Jorgensen raised his fist, but before he could do anything else, Lillie blew her cool. She shouted and a wall of pure, magic, anger, fear and grief blasted its way out of her. The Slytherins were all thrown off their feet and sent soaring backwards, landing with sickening thuds some way from where Lillie was standing.

The noise in the Great Hall seemed quieter than usual, but that could have been because of the ringing in her ears drowning everything else out. Some of the Slytherins started to stir and Lillie, who did not want to stay at the scene of the 'crime' anyway, knew they would come after her even more aggressively, so she ran.

She didn't know where she was running until she reached a painting of a baby elephant. After a second or two, the elephant trumpeted mournfully and the portrait swung aside, revealing a dark passage. Lillie clambered into the familiar darkness of the passage and ambled along it slowly. Her sprint and accidental magic had taken all her energy out of her and her capacity to think straight with it.

When she emerged from the tunnel she sat down by the edge of the river, which was frozen now that it was winter.

She stared at the swirls of ice. She didn't know how long for. She didn't even notice when somebody else stepped out of the passage. She only realised that she wasn't alone when a warm cloak was thrown over her. She looked up, into the yellowy-brown eyes of Teddy.

"I thought I'd find you here. Jeez, it's freezing, how long have you been out here?" he asked crouching down beside Lillie.

"A while," she said tonelessly.

"Why?" he asked. Lillie didn't reply, instead she just sat up and pulled the cloak over Teddy as well. "Is it me?" he asked, and Lillie wasn't entirely sure whether or not he was joking.

"No," she whispered; her voice was hoarse from lack of use.

"Is it that time of the month," this time Lillie knew he was joking, so she took a gentle swipe at him. "No!" he put his hands up in mock terror. "But seriously, what is it?"

"A number of things," she replied evasively.

"Like…" he wondered out loud.

"I'm confused," she said.

"By what?" interjected Teddy.

"Boys," Lillie answered simply.

"Trust me, girls are more confusing," he assured her. "Okay, what else is wrong?"

"I accidentally knocked out half the third year Slytherins with accidental magic," she continued.

"Fred and George would be proud. And Harry wouldn't be too disappointed either, Uncle Ron would positively love it," grinned Teddy.

"Right, anyway, I'm also angry with Chris who was one of my best friends," Lillie grumbled.

Teddy picked up on the past tense, "Was? What happened?"

"Things were said, well muttered really," she huffed.

"What kind of things?" Teddy pressed.

"Things about parentage," admitted Lillie.

Teddy stood up, outraged, "He didn't! I swear when I next see him I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

"No, Teddy, it was my fault… kind of," she pleaded.

"Alright, but if he ever pulls anything like that again," he threatened.

"You have my permission to do whatever you want," confirmed Lillie. "But anyway, that's not the worst."

"_What_ is the worst?" Teddy asked nervously.

"You remembered what happened back in the first year?"

"How could I forget," he said darkly.

"Well, Ezekielis Bamforth, the brawn of the whole operation, is being released tomorrow," Lillie said.

"What the- Are you serious?" Teddy's mouth was slightly open. Lillie nodded.

"I'm scared, Ted," she murmured.

"It's okay, it's all gonna be okay," Teddy assured her, wrapping one arm around her and pulling her into him.

"Is it? How do you know?"

"Because I'm not going to let anyone hurt you ever again," he promised her confidently. Lillie leaned into him and he brought his other arm around her and held her close. She muttered something into his chest, but it was muffled.

She pulled back slightly. "Does that include you?"

Teddy's throat went dry. He swallowed, "I'll do my best."

Lillie smiled sadly at him. She was normally very good at masking her true emotions and putting on a smile for everyone else, but Teddy could see the hurt, fear and anger in her eyes and he wished that he knew how to fix it. Teddy hadn't seen Lillie look so vulnerable since they had met in Madam Malkin's. At the time he had assumed that she was merely nervous about starting in the magical world, but he had since learnt that there was a lot more to her than that.

The moon came out and Teddy felt a familiar tingling. "You have to go," he said to the small figure, who was still in between his arms.

"Why?"

"Please, just go," he repeated more urgently this time.

"Okay, thanks, Teddy," she said as she headed for the concealed exit.

"No problem," he said. He was straining to retain his smile. He watched Lillie until she was in the tunnel, then he held his breath and waited until he was sure that she had left, before collapsing.

He allowed the feeling to spread through his limbs, which were elongating and twisting into inhuman positions. He began to pull of his clothing so that it wouldn't rip. His nails went slightly yellowy and grew about a centimetre and so he had to stop and hair started sprouting over his body, until he was covered in thin fuzz.

With the transformation fully complete, he curled up into a ball and pulled the discarded clothes over him like a blanket. Normally at this point he would try and fall asleep, but this time he felt exceptionally thirsty so he crawled over to the river and drank deeply. But no matter how much he drank, his thirst was not quenched. And that was when it hit him, he didn't want water; he wanted blood. He howled fearfully. He had never felt anything like this before and he was scared that he might lose control over it so he ran far away from the entrance to the cave; he ran up the steep, wooded slope and then started up a mountain.

When he considered himself sufficiently far away, he stopped and lay down, panting. "What's happening to me?" he whispered quietly to the wind. He felt relieved that his voice still worked.

He stood up, preparing to find somewhere warmer and more comfortable to spend the night, when he picked up a gentle rustling moving slowly towards him. He tensed. A deer came into view walking slowly. The thirst Teddy felt reached a peal. All conscious thought seemed to leave Teddy, and a feral instinct took over; adrenaline coursed through his veins and his teeth were bared and a little foam appeared at the edges of his jaw. He pounced, but the deer managed to move out of the way in the knick of time.

The chase was on. The deer fled into the forest, Teddy followed it and soon he was catching up to it. His pace and strength were heightened by his wild uncontrolled state and within a minute he was once again close enough to leap. This time he didn't miss and his teeth sank into the hindquarters of the poor creature, which let out a strangled cry of agony.

The blood that was seeping from the wound flowed into Teddy's mouth, but instead of satisfying his thirst, it only made it stronger and Teddy swung his claws down into the leg of the deer, which was still trying to run. It was kicking at Teddy, and one of the blows caught him and he heard a crack, but he disregarded it and worked harder still to finish off the beast.

It wasn't long before the creature fell to the floor, where it spasmed and moaned in agony. Teddy circled, relishing the prospect of dealing the final blow. Just as he reached the head he leapt forward and ripped at the deer's throat. It shuddered once more and was still. Teddy ripped a large chunk of flesh off the creature and started to shred it with his teeth.

Half an hour or so later Teddy had eaten his fill and his thirst had finally been quenched. He trotted back down the mountain until he reached a point near the edge of the wood from which he could see the waterfall. He lay down and curled up. It was only then that his mind caught up with what he had done; he felt disgusted with himself, but before he could do anything he had fallen asleep or passed out.

…

When he woke up again Teddy felt dizzy with agony. He examined himself: all he was wearing were the shredded remains of a wife-beater and trousers, both of which were stained with blood. His entire body was covered in blood but Teddy could not find the source. He got up, and felt a horrible pain in his rib-cage.

He strained to remember where he was and how he had got there. The night before was a blur, but as Teddy thought more about it, the events became easier to recall. He realised where all the blood came from and how he had hurt his ribs.

He was horrified by what had happened and he vomited, but that only made the pain in his ribs worse.

He peered around and saw the waterfall. He staggered towards it, one hand on his ribs and the other covering his mouth. He stumbled straight past his discarded robes and cloak and almost fell into the tunnel. He made his way slowly through the passage, using his hand to steady himself while the other still clasped his ribcage.

When he reached the end of the passage he slumped against the back of the painting, which swung open before he was prepared and he started to fall from the passage.

He threw out a hand to break his fall, but when he made contact with the cold stone floor there was another clear snap and he let out a strangled cry. Even so, he did his best to sit up, and then using his good hand, he used the wall to haul himself back to his feet.

He heard swift footsteps approaching and soon a familiar voice yelled out, "Teddy!" The steps quickened and he turned around to see Lillie running towards him. "Oh my go! What happened? I left you two minutes ago!" The shrillness of Lillie's voice hurt Teddy's head and so he waved with his good hand and she fell silent.

"Lillie, I'm really not feeling well," he whispered, his throat was dry and a pain in his head was joining the one in his ribs and arm.

"Here," said Lillie and she took hold of his bad arm, making Teddy yelp. "Sorry!" She switched to his other side and pulled his arm over her shoulder. They started walking towards the hospital wing, with Teddy leaning on Lillie who was struggling under his weight.

Eventually they made it to the hospital wing and all Teddy heard was Madam Cunaxa cry, "Dear, sweet Merlin! What's happened to this boy?" before he completely passed out.

Lillie already tired from her exertions of half-dragging Teddy to the hospital wing nearly collapsed when he passed out and she would have, if Madam Cunaxa hadn't been on hand to take Teddy away from her and lay him on the nearest bed. Lillie sunk to the floor and took in a deep breath.

"What happened?" cried Madam Cunaxa as she frantically moved around Teddy waving her wand faster than Lillie could keep track out of.

"I don't know. I was just walking to the common room when I heard someone shouting. I went to see who it was and I found him like that," Lillie said at top speed. "Is he going to be okay," she asked anxiously.

"I don't know," admitted Madam Cunaxa and Lillie's heart seemed to stop momentarily. "If only I could find where all this blood came from."

"What about his arm?" asked Lillie.

"I'll be able to fix that in five seconds," snorted Madam Cunaxa. "That's not what's important." Lillie fell silent. After another few minutes Madam Cunaxa stopped moving. "The blood isn't his," she announced. She turned to Lillie and saw that she was also covered in congealed blood and waved her wand causing it to vanish.

"It wasn't his?" Lillie asked.

"No, dear, it wasn't. There weren't any cuts serious enough to give out that much blood," explained the nurse.

Lillie's mind worked furiously; if the blood wasn't his, then that meant it must have come from somebody else in Orphan's Hollow. Had someone attacked Teddy? If so they had lost a lot of blood and probably needed help.

Lillie got up, and despite her weariness ran as fast as she could back to the corridor with the painting of the elephant. She ran past Richard who called after her, but she ignored him and kept going.

She jogged along the passage, doing her best not to run into any walls. When she emerged at the other end, she found that the small gorge was bathed in moonlight. She noticed a lumpy heap and she moved hesitantly towards it, but when she got up close she realised that they were just Teddy's clothes. She picked them up, even more confused than before.

She heard a wolf howl from the mountain and she looked up fearfully, but she was unable to see anything so she hoped that the wolf was further up the mountain. She was surprised at how clearly she could see anything, and she looked up at the moon. It was full; that explained it.

Lillie gasped. It was a full moon, Teddy was covered in blood that wasn't his, and he had clearly been in some sort of fight. What if Teddy hadn't been attacked, what if he had done the attacking?

The wolf howled again, and this time it sounded slightly louder, and then another wolf howled. Lillie fled back through the passage. She ran as fast as she could; she didn't stop until she had reached the hospital wing. She found Madam Cunaxa was still there, sorting out a couple of potions. She saw Lillie and stopped immediately. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Teddy," Lillie panted. "I- I think he- he attacked someone."

Madam Cunaxa's face went from worry, to confusion, to realisation, to fear and ended up back where it started. "Go fetch the Headmistress," she ordered Lillie. "Here have this first," she handed Lillie a small phial of dark green potion. Lillie drank it and felt her exhaustion evaporate.

Lillie left the ward followed by Madam Cunaxa, who split off down the corridor to the staff room. Lillie carried on until she had reached Professor McGonagall's study, but then she realised that she didn't know the code.

"Lillie? What are you doing here?" asked a voice.

Lillie spun around to see Professor Stokes. "Someone's been hurt, well attacked and Madam Cunaxa asked me to get Professor McGonagall but I don't know the password," Lillie gabbled.

Professor Stokes nodded and said loudly to the gargoyle, "Padfoot." At once, it started turning and Lillie hopped onto the first stair and Professor Stokes followed her.

Lillie jumped off before it had stopped moving and burst through the doors without knocking. Professor McGonagall looked up startled from her desk. She was wearing a tartan dressing gown, and her hair hung loose for the first time in Lillie's memory.

"Professor McGonagall! Someone's been hurt. I think. Madam Cunaxa sent me to fetch you," cried Lillie so quickly that her words blurred into one mess.

"Control yourself, girl!" said Professor McGonagall. "Nick, what is the meaning of this?" she addressed Professor Stokes, who was considerably calmer than the panicking child in front of her.

"I found Lillie at the bottom of the stairs," he explained. "She told me that someone had been attacked and that the nurse had sent her to get you."

"Me?" asked Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrow.

"Professor, it was Teddy. Teddy Lupin, I think he attacked someone; it's the full moon tonight, and I found him covered in blood that wasn't his," Lillie implored more calmly than before.

Professor McGonagall stood up immediately and she headed out of the office with Lillie and Professor Stokes. "Wait," said the latter. "Is Ted Lupin a werewolf?" he asked astounded.

"Of sorts," said McGonagall. "You used to be an auror didn't you? You must have learnt to deal with werewolves before."

"That was a long time ago," said Professor Stokes hesitantly.

"I think you had better come too, Nick. We're going to need all hands on deck."

**DUN DUN DAHHHH!**

**What's going to happen?**

**Thanks to all the lovely people who reviewed/favourited/alerted you're all amazing.**

**Special thanks as always to AnimeFlowerGirl, who has finally updated, and it was AMAZING! Everybody go check out her story Crossroads and to Facetaker. Also thanks to Zheeba89 who was supportive as always.**

**Please review, the more you review, the more I update. Is that good incentive or what? Probably what? Well I'm going to go to bed now. But please review. Good, bad, whatever, it's all welcome.**

**I'm sorry for any typos, I wrote this quickly without really checking.**


	23. Freedom

Silver Lining

Chapter 22: Freedom

Professors McGonagall and Stokes ran off down the corridor and Lillie chased after them. However, the effects of the potion that the nurse had given her were wearing off and exhaustion started to spread through her limbs. She slowed to a walk and allowed the teachers to pull away from her and soon they were out of sight; they wouldn't need her anyway.

Lillie walked more slowly towards the hospital wing. She jumped when a group of fourth year Gryffindors walked around the corner; she had forgotten about time being different in the Hollow and she realised that some people were probably still at tea. Although she had already eaten, Lillie felt hungry once again and decided to return to the Great Hall.

She spotted Chris and headed for him; she was about to sit down beside him when she remembered that they were supposed to fighting. But it was too late, Chris looked up at her: his expression hardened, but after about two awkward seconds they softened again. "Lillie, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I- I thought you weren't talking to me," stuttered Lillie, who didn't want to have to deal with this too.

"I'm not- I wasn't. But seriously, what's wrong?" he said frustration prominent in his voice.

"How do you know something's wrong?" Lillie accused.

"Lillie," he huffed. He took a deep breath to calm down. "You were, no you _are_ my best friend; I can tell if something's up," he said comfortingly. Lillie looked around at the floating candles. The flames seemed to explode into tiny suns and everything seemed to blur into one, and she realised she was tearing up.

"I'm so confused," Lillie half-sobbed, she gave up trying to hold anything back, but she hung her head so that Chris wouldn't see she was crying. He knew though; she knew he knew. Quick as a flash, he was on his feet and wrapped his arms around her. Lillie leaned into him letting everything that had been building up flow out.

"Come on," whispered Chris tenderly, leading her out of the Great Hall. It took them a while to get to Ravenclaw tower, and when they did, the common room was full, so Chris took her up to the boys' dormitory. The other boys must have been in the common room or still at dinner.

Chris led her to a bed near the window and sat her down on it. She had been weeping for the entire journey from the Great Hall and she had finally regained control of herself. Chris sat down opposite her.

"Now, are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked.

Lillie smiled and shook her head.

"Lillie," he sighed.

Lillie released a cry of mirthless laughter. "I can't! I want to but I can't. I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone," she cried.

Chris shushed her before pointing his wand at the door and saying, "Muffliato." He looked back to Lillie his hazel eyes meeting her green ones. "Well I'm not anyone," he said.

The eye contact didn't break and Lillie remembered a time almost two years ago, when those exact same eyes had given her hope, strength and belief. The longer she looked into his eyes hazel eyes, the more those feelings welled up inside of her.

She had instinctively trusted that man, and she knew that she could trust Chris more than anyone; but then again she didn't want to tell people about Teddy. Lillie eventually broke the silence, "A friend of mine has a certain… condition and- and I think it might have gotten worse; it's a very serious condition and I don't want to tell you who has it, because they don't like people knowing." Lillie wasn't satisfied with the answer but it was the best she could come up with.

"I have a feeling that there's more," encouraged Chris.

"Do you know who Ezekielis Bamforth is?" Lillie asked.

Chris' brow furrowed, and he nodded his head slowly.

"Well, he's getting out of Azkaban. Tomorrow," admitted Lillie.

"What?" Chris yelled.

"My aunt handed out some bribes apparently," Lillie explained, tiredly.

"This won't stand. Who told you?" he asked.

"Mindy Bamforth; she's his daughter."

They were interrupted then when one of the MacDougal twins came in and said, "Hey Chris, Emer Williams wants to see you."

"I'll be down in a minute," Chris told him. The twin left and Chris said to Lillie, "I'd better go; Emer doesn't like to be kept waiting." The pair got up and walked towards the door. Chris held the door open for Lillie and bowed for her to pass.

Lillie laughed. "My thanks, good Sir," she said to him in a pompous voice. He grinned as he straightened up before hurrying down the stairs to see Emer. She was a seventh year, captain and beater of the Quidditch team, which had been much less successful this year than it had been before, as they had lost their keeper, seeker and their two best chasers and the replacements were average at best.

Lillie headed for the door opposite the one she had just come out and entered the smaller (and cleaner) girls' dormitory. It was empty except for Jenny who was reading a book on her bed.

She looked up at Lillie, "You look terrible," she commented.

Lillie smiled slightly, "Thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," said Jenny, marking her page before closing her book. She seemed to be trying to decide whether or not to ask Lillie something.

"Do you want something Jen?" asked Lillie a little impatiently.

"What do you think of this?" Jenny asked and showed Lillie the little scrap of paper that she had dropped just before the holidays. Lillie walked forward and took it.

It was a note from Eric Parker asking Jenny to go to Madam Puddifoot's with him on the next Hogsmeade weekend, which was on Valentine's Day. "It seems pretty self-explanatory to me," she shrugged.

"But do you think I should go?" she asked.

"Sure, why not? Anyway, why are you asking me? I'm not exactly an expert on this kind of thing," Lillie answered with one eyebrow slightly raised.

"Because I trust you more than others," admitted Jenny.

This shocked Lillie; she was friends with Jenny, but they had never been that close, at least she hadn't realised that they were. "I thought Samantha was your best friend," Lillie said.

"She is, but she does like to gossip, so do the others," Jenny explained.

"I suppose so. And I don't gossip as much?"

"I didn't think you did," fretted Jenny, who sounded slightly worried.

Lillie smiled. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to bed."

"It's only seven-thirty," Jenny pointed out and Lillie yawned in response, making Jenny laugh. "Okay then, I'll give you some peace." She got up and left leaving Lillie to get changed into her pyjamas and hop into bed.

At first she simply lay there, too tired to worry about anything, but too apprehensive to fall asleep, but eventually she fell into a fitful sleep, plagued by dreams and nightmares.

_Lillie was lying stretched out in Orphan's Hollow with the sun shining brightly above her. She was laughing. Teddy was also there, he was wearing swimming trunks and a t-shirt and he was edging a long the small cliff, approaching the cascading water. He looked taller and older and when Lillie stood up, she realised that she was also taller._

_A few seconds later, Teddy was standing in a small alcove behind the waterfall. He then leapt into the waterfall which propelled him downwards. There was a tremendous explosion of water when he made contact: his knees were pulled up against his chest and his hands held them in place in the bomb position._

_Lillie laughed again. She could see Teddy swimming under the water towards the edge of the pool, where she was still standing._

_Ten seconds later the surface broke, but it wasn't Teddy that emerged, it was Chris. Lillie shrugged and handed Chris the towel that she had been lying on._

_A dark cloud passed in front of the sun plunging the area into semi-twilight. When the cloud passed again, the sun was gone, and there was a large round full moon in its place._

_Lillie looked around, behind them stood Teddy; or rather he was hunched there. He fell to the ground and Lillie saw hair start to grow on his face and hands. She backed off and bumped into Chris._

_Tacitly, they both turned and ran as fast as they could up the steep path. They ran across the main road and into the forest on the other side. There was a horribly human howl behind them, which was proceeded by another howl, purely animal this time, to their right._

_More howls followed the first ones and they started to close in on them. Chris and Lillie stopped running and began climbing trees. They had not got very far when four or so wolves came into sight. One of them was Teddy._

_Lillie looked into Teddy's eyes but could see only wolf. Whatever humanity he had was either gone or trapped deep inside where he couldn't do anything._

_The wolves clustered at the base of Chris' tree and started leaping at him, claws outstretched. At last, one of them caught his shin and Chris drooped slightly. He was bleeding, and this seemed to incense the wolves even more, and they leapt at him with renewed vigour._

_Chris' legs were repeatedly clawed and as he grew wearier, Lillie saw his grip slipping and he soon let go all together and fell among the wolves. Lillie's throat constricted._

_She too dropped from her tree, but none of the wolves noticed her and she sprinted faster than she ever had before down through the trees. She stumbled every so often, and she was whipped by small branches and so by the time she reached the main road, she was covered in small cuts._

_When she reached the path down to the waterfall, she slipped and skidded down the path, her dress catching on various stones, so that when she finally reached the bottom she looked a complete mess: she was covered in scratches and dirt and her dress had more holes than Swiss cheese._

_She heard another wolf howl and she ran the last few metres to the passage as fast as she could._

_Once inside the passage, Lillie slowed down and panted heavily as she hobbled along. When she reached the end of the passage, she pushed open the hidden doorway without waiting for the elephant to trumpet._

_But instead of emerging in the usual corridor, Lillie found herself in a horribly familiar tower room filled with the two people she least wanted to see: Ezekielis Bamforth and Dulcia Selwyn._

_Ezekielis smiled a horrible smile and drew out a long, curved scarlet blade from behind his back. He approached Lillie and raised the instrument above his head, she saw it come sweeping down towards her._

Lillie sat bolt upright, panting heavily. She heard heavy breathing all around her, which suggested that everyone else was in bed.

There was a sound to her left and she tensed again, but then Gill came into view. "Lillie, are you alright, you were thrashing around a bit in your sleep?

"I don't know. I never know if I'm alright or not anymore. I'm just really confused and tired and a little scared," Lillie said honestly.

"Yeah, Chris told me about what was happening to the guy that… you know," she finished awkwardly.

"Well that's just one thing," said Lillie, who didn't want to talk any more about her feelings. "Listen Gill, I'm really tired, would you mind…"

Gill got the message and returned to her bed at once.

Lillie lay back down. She was very hot and so she folded her duvet over and breathed with satisfaction as the cool air came and took her troubles away. Lillie fell back to sleep and her nightmares did not return.

Meanwhile in Azkaban Ezekielis Bamforth's shackles were removed and he was allowed to leave his cell unchained for the first time in over a year. He walked through the dingy corridors and the other prisoners sneered, hissed and cackled at him, depending on their levels of sanity.

The last cell he passed had more security than any of the others: the small gaps between the bars were filled with a faint blue light. Behind the barrier of blue was a tall, thin woman. She had the remnants of great beauty, but age, imprisonment, disease and malnourishment had left her looking strangely proportioned.

He knew the guards couldn't peak English so as they walked by he whispered, "Soon." She smiled, revealing a row of sunshine yellow teeth. She laughed maliciously and the guard behind Ezekielis shove him forward.

The woman was Morgana Lestrange. She was the secret love-child of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy. They were young and made a mistake. Lucius had refused to have anything to do with the child and Bellatrix had raised her in secret. She kept her hidden from her husband Rudolphus and taught her the Dark Arts from the moment she learned how to speak.

When she turned 17, Bellatrix let her make her own way in the world. Three months later, she had been sent to Azkaban for torturing and murdering 18 muggles and wizards: she said she had done it because they were blood-traitors.

Mother and daughter had been reunited when Bellatrix went to Azkaban in 1981, after the first fall of the Dark Lord. However, unlike her mother, Morgana had not escaped in 1995 but her security was strengthened anyway.

In his time in Azkaban, Ezekielis had gotten to know Morgana during their daily walks around the courtyard. Together, they had hatched many escape plans, but all of these had required someone on the outside, and now Ezekielis was about to become 'someone on the outside'.

He descended the stairs and at the bottom, Dulcia waited for him in the dismal foyer. She was wearing horrible beige robes and Ezekielis struggled to keep a straight face, after all, she was the woman who was getting him out of here.

Before he reached her, he was handed a quill and a piece of parchment, he quickly scribbled a signature in the appropriate place and returned the items.

He offered his arm to the elderly woman and she took it. "Shall we?" she asked. He nodded stiffly and they stepped out of the front door of the prison, where a portkey was waiting for them. The pair gripped the quill and it glowed blue. Three seconds later, there was a tug behind his navel and they were off. Ezekielis hadn't felt this free in a very long time.

When they landed, they were standing in the large garden of Dulcia's mansion. Ezekielis threw the quill aside and bit back the shout of laughter that he longed to release into the world, for he knew that Dulcia wouldn't approve. Instead he smiled and made his way towards the mansion.

…

The next day when Lillie headed down to breakfast, heads turned and whispers filled the room with a sound that was strangely like the rustling of paper. When Lillie sat down next to Chris, she found out why almost immediately. "Look at this," he said handing her the Daily Prophet.

Lillie looked down at the newspaper, the title on the front page read: _Convicted Torturer released from Azkaban_. There was a photo of Ezekielis Bamforth and the article continued. _Ezekielis Bamforth, convicted torturer, has been released from Azkaban after only 20 months of his 200 year sentence. Many people are suspicious of the release, and it is widely thought that Dulcia Selwyn is responsible.__ "That woman's got money," said Ernie McMillan, a ministry employee, "and there are lots of people who would take on a venomous tentacula for a few Galleons." Lucretius Selwyn, the other man convicted for the capture and torture of Lillian Whitehead, a Hogwarts student, remains in Azkaban. How long for is anyone's guess._Beside this there was a photo of the ex-Transfiguration teacher, and another one of Lillie looking much younger than she actually was. She examined the photo, and realised with horror that this photo had been taken by her mother a few months before that fateful trip to the lake. How the Prophet had gotten hold of the photo was beyond Lillie. She looked back to the article: _Muggle-born __Lillie Whitehead, 13, lost her parents in a car accident a few weeks before her 11__th__ birthday. She was taken in by her great-aunt Dulcia Selwyn, a woman who is renowned for her kindness and generosity. _Lillie stopped reading and gave Chris back the paper. She didn't know what to do or think. She knew this was going to happen, but she still wasn't prepared. She searched for something to say to Chris that wasn't to do with the article.

"So why did Emer want to see you?" she asked.

Chris' face brightened noticeably. "I'm on the team!" he exclaimed. "She kicked Ash off the team for being inappropriate and she needed a new keeper or seeker, depending where Kathy plans on going."

"Whoa, slow down," Lillie laughed a little at Chris' excitement. "Who is Kathy?"

"Kathy Parsons, she's in seventh year and is seeker at the moment, but with Ash gone she might try out for keeper," Chris explained.

"Where would you rather play?" Lillie asked, glad that Chris had followed her red herring.

"Well, it depends, who I'm playing against, where I'm playing and who I'm playing with," started Chris before launching off into a long-winded explanation of all the different conditions. He mentioned a lot people who Lillie had never heard of, and who she assumed were famous Quidditch players. Lillie was sure he could have gone on forever, but after about twenty minutes, they had to go back to Ravenclaw tower to get ready for lessons.

"So, the moral of the story is, you'd rather be a keeper," Lillie said uncertainly.

"Well-," he started but Lillie cut him off.

"Generally, you would rather be a keeper," said Lillie.

Chris sighed, "It's not that simple, but I guess so. Especially here at Hogwarts."

They parted company and Lillie went to get her books for the day.

…

Whispers and curious glances followed Lillie for the rest of the week, Mindy Bamforth and her thugs seemed more determined than ever to get Lillie and she had a few too many close calls. What was more, she still hadn't been allowed to go and visit Teddy which she found distressing.

However, when Lillie walked into Drama on Thursday she was given a piece of good news. At the end of the previous term, those who wanted to had auditioned for the junior play. The play was for third, fourth and fifth years, and so third years usually didn't get in. When Lillie took her seat between Dan Short and Parvati, Professor Bristow came round and gave placed a copy of Romeo and Juliet in front of her.

"Okay, so those of you who I just gave scripts to, congratulations, you've got a part in the play," he said. Looking round Lillie saw that two other people had been given scripts: Richard Timberlake and Michael Bilding. Dan and Parvati whispered their 'Well done's to Lillie. "You're parts and lines have been highlighted for you," continued Professor Bristow. Lillie opened her copy hesitantly and Dan and Parvati leaned in excitedly. Lillie gasped and dropped the script back onto the desk, meanwhile Parvati cheered and Dan clapped her on the back also whooping: Lillie had been given the part of Juliet.

"I hope you're up to the task Lillie," said Professor Bristow, smiling broadly. Everyone turned to look at Lillie questioningly. "We have Juliet among us," he said and everyone in the room started applauding; for the first time in a long time, Lillie didn't feel worried, she just felt happy.

"Okay, everybody, calm down," laughed Professor Bristow. "Now, can anyone actually tell me what 'Romeo and Juliet' is about? Or are you all just assuming that Juliet is a big part because it's in the title.

Abigail Bones tentatively raised her hand, and started speaking but Lillie wasn't really paying attention. Every muggle knew roughly what 'Romeo and Juliet' was about.

**A/N:**

**So Lillie's happy (kind of) despite everything that's going on. But what's going on with Teddy? And Dulcia is working her way up again!**

**If you want to find out more, please review.**

**I know I haven't updated much, but I have a GCSE exam in two and a half hours****. Then again, I speak French so it shouldn't be too bad.**


	24. Off Limits

Silver Lining

Chapter 23: Off limits

Since she had found out that she had landed the lead in the play, everything had gone back to normal: Lillie was worried about the release of Ezekielis but she felt that she was safe as long as she was at Hogwarts. There had been one bright spark though, when she found out who was playing Romeo: Thomas Hart. He was a fifth-year, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and very good-looking; almost every girl in the school had a crush on him.

However, what was really bringing Lillie down was that she was still not allowed to go and visit Teddy in the hospital wing. When she had gone, he wasn't in there and when she asked Madam Cunaxa she had told her that Teddy was 'strictly off limits'. To her surprise, Professor Stokes had said the exact same thing when she asked him.

In the end she decided to try writing a letter to Harry Potter to see if he would tell her what was going on. She knew it was a bit far-fetched and that he probably wouldn't reply, but it was worth a shot anyway.

That was three weeks ago and she had still not received a reply; she knew that the message had been delivered because Chris' owl (which she had borrowed) had already returned.

There had been a time when Lillie would have gone looking for clues about what happened and not given up until she had found out what she wanted. But ever since the first year, Lillie's stubbornness had evolved into a meek acceptance. She knew this was true and she would still put up a pretence occasionally, but this time she was too scared to do anything and it made her sick. It made her sick that she wasn't doing anything to find out what was happening to Teddy. She knew that if the situations were reversed he would do everything in his power to find her.

Lillie lay on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. She frowned, there was something slightly off about the pale cream ceiling; it took her a while to realise that the ceiling was staring back at her.

She tried to jump out of bed but ended up just rolling over the edge and landing with a solid 'thwump' on the floor. Groaning she leapt to her feet and stared at the spot on the ceiling where the eyes had been, except now, there was now an entire face visible. Lillie vaguely recognised it and after a minute she realised that it was one of the apparitions that guarded the Chamber of Ravenclaw.

The woman spoke, "It's never too late."

Before Lillie had time to ask what she meant the apparition was gone. But it didn't take Lillie long to understand the message. Tea had just started so everyone would be in the Great Hall; this was her chance.

She marched across to the door and opened it. She looked around before tentatively making her way _up_ the stairs. One floor up, she stopped outside two doors almost identical to the one she had just gone through except the little plaques on these read _Fourth year: Girls_ and _Fourth year: Boys_.

She pressed her ear against the boys' one and when she couldn't hear anything she tentatively pushed the door open. There was no one inside and she scuttled over to Teddy's bed and knelt down beside it. The bed looked cold and unfriendly since it hadn't been used for so long.

She crawled over to his trunk but when she tried to open it she found that it was locked. "Boys," she whispered exasperatedly; girls never had to lock their trunks. She quickly pulled her wand out and muttered, "Alohamora." Something clicked inside the trunk and when she tried to open it again it gave easily.

Lillie was one of the few people who knew that Teddy had an invisibility cloak which he had been given by Harry. While she was rummaging in the trunk she found a large phial of golden liquid which she immediately recognised as Felix Felicis. She picked it up and examined it. "Sorry Ted," she said before pocketing it.

Lillie had sifted through the contents of the trunk in vain twice when she heard voices on the stairs leading up to the dormitories. She shut the trunk and murmured, "Coloportus," before looking for a place to hide. She dived under the bed and about two seconds later the door was opened and two people walked in.

Lillie stared at the feet and concentrated on being as quiet as possible. She noticed that one boy's shoelaces were undone and she sincerely hoped that he wouldn't notice.

The boys chatted unconcernedly and were moving back towards the door when one said to the other, "Jeremy. Shoelaces."

The other boy, who Lillie now realised was Jeremy Marlon thanked the other boy and Lillie could see, as if in slow-motion Jeremy bending his knees. While he was crouching over his shoe, he raised a hand to scratch his neck. This made his head tilt slightly and his eyes fell on Lillie and he raised his eyebrows.

Lillie raised a shaking finger to her lips; Jeremy smiled and winked at her before straightening up and saying. "Come on, we'd better hurry or all the food will be gone." The two boys left and Lillie let out a long breath. She had to remember to thank Jeremy at some point.

She looked up at the underside of the bed, and saw to her delight the silky folds of the invisibility cloak. She grabbed it and rolled out from under the bed throwing it over herself as she approached the door.

She took it off again once she was sure that there was no one there and she quickly hurried back to her own dormitory. She hid the cloak under her mattress before hurrying down to dinner.

Once she was in the Great Hall, Lillie located Victoire who sitting with Richard, Michael Bilding, Tom Hall and Lucy Finnegan at the Gryffindor table. She carefully approached her and tapped her on the shoulder.

Victoire turned around and she smiled when she saw Lillie. "Hey! How are you? I haven't spoken to you in ages. How are you?" she gabbled.

"Hi," Lillie replied brightly. "I'm fine, but I was wondering if I could have a word… in private."

"Umm… yeah, I don't see why not," Victoire said. "I'll see you guys later," she said to the others. They walked out of the Great Hall and then went down a random corridor.

When Lillie deemed that they were far enough away from everybody she turned to face Victoire. Who at first looked confused but soon looked very happy. "Why are you suddenly so happy?" Lillie asked.

"Because I haven't seen that look on your face since the first year; that's your plotting look," she said happily.

"Well, you're right. We are going to find Teddy, I got his invisibility cloak and at midnight tonight we are meeting outside the Gryffindor common room and we are gonna find that boy," revealed Lillie.

"How do you plan on finding him, exactly?" Victoire asked.

"I have no idea. But I'm sure Felix will be able to help us there," said Lillie, pulling out the potion.

Victoire gasped. "That's despicable, I _love_ it!"

"So do we have a plan?"

"Yes. Yes we do," affirmed Victoire.

"Good, well in that case I'm going to go get some food," said Lillie.

See you around," Victoire smiled at her.

Lillie headed back to the Great Hall but halfway to the Ravenclaw table her path was impeded by Jeremy. "Whatever you're planning; it has something to do with Teddy and I want in."

"What are you talking about?" Lillie asked smoothly. "I'm not planning anything."

Jeremy raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure? Then why were you hiding under Teddy's bed?"

"I wasn't," Lillie lied.

"For Merlin's sake! I saw you. Lillie, come on, Teddy is one of my best friends, and besides, I was under the impression that we were friends," Jeremy said in a hushed whisper.

Lillie rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Fine," she conceded. "Meet me in the common room ten minutes before midnight."

Lillie turned around and walked off, forgetting completely that she had meant to have dinner. She returned to her dormitory and found a note lying on her bed. _Lillie, there's rehearsal after dinner. Meet in drama room. Act 2 scene 2. Don't bring a script.__ Prof B._ Lillie sighed, she was not in the mood for a rehearsal at the moment, but she knew she had to go. She went over to her bedside table and picked up her dog-eared script before flicking to act 2, scene 2. She had learnt most of her lines already, but she just wanted to know which bit that was. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" she read. Lillie smiled; this was probably the most famous scene from the play. She dropped her script back onto her bed before heading for the drama classroom.

When she got there, Professor Bristow hadn't arrived, but Thomas Hart had. He seemed to be stretching and he didn't notice Lillie come in. Lillie closed the door a little more loudly than she would normally have done and Thomas straightened up.

"Hey Lil'," he said, flashing Lillie a dazzling smile. She glared at him for calling her Lil'.

"What were you doing?" she asked.

"Stretching," he replied.

"I can see that but why?"

"Oh, I just had Quidditch practice and I got hit by a bludger," he explained.

"Ouch," Lillie winced. "Where did it hit?" she asked. Thomas pulled up the back of his shirt and showed Lillie a large, round red mark. "That is gonna leave a big bruise," stated Lillie.

"You don't say!"

"Here, I know a spell that will help," said Lillie drawing her wand.

Thomas immediately turned to face her again. "No way am I letting you cast a spell on me," he said. "How do I know you won't just hex me or make it worse?"

"You don't, you'll just have to trust me."

"Fine," Thomas once again turned his back to her and raised his shirt enough to reveal the welt.

Lillie pointed her wand at it and muttered a few words. A thin blue jet burst from her wand and touched the wound. At the point where it touched, the red slowly faded and then it spread outwards until gradually, there was no longer any trace of red. Lillie nodded approvingly at her work. "It might itch a bit, but other than that it should be fine.

Thomas straightened up and gingerly tested the spot with his fingers; he seemed satisfied so Lillie assumed it didn't hurt. "Thanks Lil'," he said and Lillie glared at him again, "…lie," he finished.

Before either one could say anything else Professor Bristow walked into the room looking a little flustered. "Sorry I'm late," he panted, but did not give a reason.

After Professor Bristow had regained his breath the rehearsal started. "Okay, it's quite a long scene and I'm probably going to make a lot of comments so we'll only do the first half up to, let's say… Juliet's 'Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face' speech.

"Sounds good," said Thomas and Lillie nodded her agreement.

"Okay, well seeing as we don't have a set, Lillie just stand on the table and pretend that there's a window. Tom, I want you to walk on from the other end of the room. GO!" ordered Professor Bristow.

Lillie climbed onto the table and watched as Thomas entered pretending to jest 'at scars that never felt a wound.' Lillie took a step forward and his head snapped towards her. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun… oh that I were a glove upon thy hand-,"

"That," interjected Professor Bristow.

"-that hand," corrected Thomas, "that I might touch that cheek."

"Ay, me," answered Lillie before Thomas resumed his speech.

The first bit of fun for Lillie came shortly after. Thomas finished his soliloquy: "And sails upon the bosom of the air."

"O Romeo, Romeo!" she called desperately. "Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name," she begged. "Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet."

From this point on, Lillie had more to do than listen to Thomas' speech, which was fantastic to say the least. Lillie finished the rehearsal with; "And not impute his yielding to light love, which the dark night hath so discovered."

Professor Bristow applauded enthusiastically. "That would have been good for a performance," he said. "Are you sure you haven't done this scene before? You two work very well together keep it up. You just need to polish up on your lines, and Tom you need to learn the blocking. But really well done, guys."

"Thank you, Sir," said Lillie.

He winked at her. "Any questions?" he asked and they shook their heads. "Okay then, same time, same place tomorrow."

"That spell was really good," said Tom, "Have you considered being a Healer?"

"Those are the people who work in hospitals, right?" Tom nodded. "Not really, I'd rather be an actress if I'm honest," admitted Lillie.

"So are you going to apply for wada?" asked Tom.

"Wada, what's wada?"

"W.A.D.A. It's the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts. I've applied; they're coming to see this. I'm hoping that if I do well enough then they'll offer me a scholarship, but it's really hard to get into," he worried.

"From what I've seen you should get in easily," encouraged Lillie.

"Thanks," he smiled.

"How do you apply?" Lillie asked.

"You just send them an owl. Then they'll usually give you an interview where they ask you to sing and act and dance. If you do well enough they come to see you in your next play and decide whether or not you get in."

"But you're only a fifth year," Lillie pointed out.

"You don't say," retorted Tom sarcastically. "Most people get in after the seventh year, but they give a couple of scholarships each year to people who are doing their O.W.L.s. It's a four year course so that should be plenty of time anyway," he explained.

They had stopped at an intersection between corridors and now Tom walked off down one way and Lillie in the other.

She started wondering about what she would do that night (Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and ENM and then getting an early night) when she remembered her plan, which she had forgotten during the rehearsal. She checked her watch; it was eight thirty which meant she had about three hours to kill. Thinking about it, her plan seemed so stupid, all she had was an invisibility cloak and a bottle of Felix Felicis to guide her, Victoire and Jeremy through the night. She hoped it would be enough.

She decided to start working on her Transfiguration homework, but she couldn't concentrate and her thoughts drifted to unpleasant topics such as Ezekielis Bamforth and all the things that could go wrong that night. At some point she must have dozed off, because suddenly Jeremy Marlon was shaking her.

"Lillie," he hissed. "Wake up!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake," she said.

"So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"Just a minute; I need to go get something," she said and padded up to the girl's dormitory.

She made her way over to her bed as quietly as she could and slipped her hand under her mattress. The cloak wasn't there. Panicking Lillie groped around but the cloak had definitely gone.

A harsh whisper came from behind her, "Looking for this?"

Lillie whirled around; Jenny was standing behind her holding up the invisibility cloak with a horrible smile on her face. "Can I have that back?" asked Lillie.

"No."

"Jen, it's mine," reasoned Lillie.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I'm not going to do anything."

"Well then you don't need it."

"Jenny, please can I have it back."

"You're going to rescue that wolf-boy! Well, I won't let you. He's dangerous and deserves to be kept out of this school," spat Jenny.

"How…." Lillie trailed off.

"He's a Lupin," she whispered, guessing the end of Lillie's unfinished question. "His dad was a werewolf and so is he. If he's gone that means we can all sleep a little bit more safely," hissed Jenny. Lillie had never seen Jenny so vindictive before; she had always been a calm and gentle person.

"What's come over you?" Lillie demanded. "Jenny, he has never attacked anyone and he's my best friend," she implored trying to inject as much sincerity as possible into her voice.

"He's an animal."

"Has he ever done anything to you?"

Jenny's face suddenly changed; she went from looking angry and sullen to looking completely hopeless and Lillie wasn't sure which was worse. She sunk down onto her bed. It was dark and Lillie couldn't see her face well but it looked like Jenny was crying.

"Jenny," she said much more gently. "Is everything alright?"

"My dad," she began. "I've never told anyone, but he- he was killed by a werewolf."

Lillie suddenly understood why Jenny had been so unwilling to let her help Teddy. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea," she said feebly. "If it's any consolation, Teddy's not like that. I've been with him at the full moon and he's still Teddy. He can still think and talk normally, he just looks different."

A lump formed in Lillie's throat. She wasn't sure if that was true anymore. Jen didn't say anything but she dropped the cloak and it slid to the floor. Lillie tentatively picked it up and scurried out the room feeling terrible about leaving Jen like that.

She padded her way back down the stairs where Jeremy was waiting for her. "What took you so long?" he demanded.

"I met some resistance."

**Author's note**

**I'm SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOOOO sorry.**

**I've had exams and it's all been really hectic. It's not a particularly long chapter, but I tried to have it up as quickly as I could. Chapter 24: The Hunt, will hopefully far less time to post and will hopefully be longer.**

**Thanks to Zheeba89 for helping me as always. She has just written a oneshot (not for HP) which I now want everyone to go read. Just go to her profile and find her stories.**

**I hope you enjoyed the (short) chapter and don't forget to review.**

**WTCST**


	25. The Hunt

Silver Lining

_Because it's been so long since my last update, I'm going to do a quick summary of the recent chapters. Lillie was really stressed out and she performed accidental magic against Mindy Bamforth and her crew and then ran away in orphan's hollow. Teddy found her and comforted her, but because it was a full moon he transformed. Luckily he sent Lillie out before anything happened. He then went beserk and blood-thirsty when he was in wolf form and he caught a deer. When he came out of orphan's hollow Lillie found him covered in blood. She took him to the hospital wing where Madam Cunaxa ascertained that it wasn't Teddy's blood. No one has seen him since, so Lillie, Victoire and Jeremy Bilding (who is Teddy's best friend) are going to look for him using some Felix Felicis and the invisibility cloak that Lillie found in Teddy's trunk._

Chapter 24: The Hunt

Jeremy and Lillie pulled the invisibility cloak over themselves and trying to walk in time with each other. Lillie didn't open the bottle of Felix Felicis as she only wanted to use that when they eventually met up with Victoire outside the Gryffindor common room.

Lillie's plan was to get the three of them together and then share the potion equally between them. That was where her plan ended pretty much; she hoped that the Lucky Potion would be able to guide them from there though

The corridors looked slightly distorted through the folds of the cloak: it was like someone had given her a pair of glasses with twisted glass; sometimes the wall would look as though it was several feet away then when she looked back it was almost touching them. At one point Lillie even thought she saw a suit of armour with three arms. Luckily the torches were still glowing faintly and so they were able to walk down the corridors without sending any suits of armour crashing to the ground and eventually Lillie grew accustomed to her new view of the world.

Halfway to the Gryffindor dormitory, however, Jeremy and Lillie saw something that made them completely forget about Victoire, and everything else for that matter. On the floor was a large dark red pool which had gone brown around the edges. The light from the moon and from the embers in the torches glittered horribly in the crimson pool. The blood, for it obviously was blood, seemed to have come from a room on the left hand side of the corridor.

Lillie moved toward the heavy-looking oak-panelled door but Jeremy stayed stock still and the cloak slid off of her. She nearly vomited. The stench that reached her nose was worse than anything she had ever smelt before. It felt as though sickening tendrils were worming their way up her nostrils and into her throat before snaking down her gullet and seeping through her whole body clenching her lungs so that she could hardly breathe. It was the smell of death.

She stood swaying for a moment but soon Jeremy drew level with her and threw the cloak back over her. The smell of decay was gone but Lillie could still feel it on and in her and she buried her face in Jeremy's chest inhaling the smell of his sweat as though it was the sweetest flower known to man, and compared to the horrible smell of whatever lay behind the door, it was.

"Should we open it?" asked Lillie, her voice as brittle as thing glass.

"No," Jeremy soothed softly. "We don't have to open it."

"Good," she murmured, her face still pressed against his chest. She knew that she couldn't ignore it for ever but she was hoping that the longer she looked away from it the less horrible it would be when she faced it again.

"Is there another way round?" she murmured.

"Of course," he reassured her.

They stood like that for a few minutes: Lillie with her blanched face pushed against Jeremy's body and Jeremy holding her soothingly when they started hearing footsteps in the distance, echoing menacingly through the corridors accompanied with a strained and wheezy rasping. Lillie awoke from her stupor and puller the large bottle of Felix Felicis out of her robes. She took a large swig before handing the bottle to Jeremy and urgently whispering, "Drink this; I have a feeling we're going to need all the luck we can get tonight."

Jeremy also took a large swig of the golden potion and handed the bottle back to Lillie, who stoppered it and shoved it back into her pocket. Together they moved away from the vermillion lake and leaned against the wall a good ten metres away. No sooner had they done this than the footsteps came around the corner. Lillie struggled to stop herself gasping: Argus Filch, the ancient caretaker was marching a very reluctant and unhelpful Victoire down the corridor.

When they were five metres away from the blood Victoire screamed and stopped moving altogether. "What in the blazes are you…" he trailed off as he too noticed the still and sticky scarlet pool. Before anyone could do anything though, two more footsteps could be heard rushing towards them; one at either end of the corridor.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall appeared behind Filch and Victoire, dressed in a tartan dressing gown, while on their side of the gory scene Professor Stokes appeared carrying a lantern which illuminated the entire corridor and everyone was suddenly able to see with perfect clarity the horror of the scene that lay before them.

The blood pool was bigger than Lillie had originally thought and there were also a set of bright red footprints leading down the corridor in the direction that Lillie and Jeremy had come from, each step becoming fainter than the next. Lillie also saw a large curved blade, covered in blood lying not too far from the door. It seemed that she wasn't the only one, Professor Stokes moved toward the knife but he did not touch it, although he examined it closely.

"Argus," he called. "Take that girl to the hospital wing," he commanded.

"She was out of bed," Filch moaned, "and at this time of the night."

"You blundering buffoon!" cried Professor McGonagall suddenly. "Can't you see that there are slightly more pressing matters at hand? Take that girl to the hospital wing this instant. She is in shock and in serious need of care."

Filch stiffened, although with his crooked and slightly hunched back it just looked as though he was trying not to fall over. Tacitly he grabbed Victoire's arm and puller her unceremoniously from the corridor; Lillie tried to see Victoire, but the distortion made by the cloak made this surprisingly hard. From what she could see, however, she was crying. Professors Stokes, McGonagall and the two invisible children were alone in the corridor.

Lillie stood as still and silent as she could as Professor Stokes made his way hesitantly towards the door. He stopped on the edge of the blood pool which barred the way between him and his destination. "Let me get rid of that," McGonagall offered raising her wand.

"No!" cried Professor Stokes taking the headmistress (and Lillie) aback. "The blood might help us find out who did this."

"How can blood help us?" McGonagall asked arching one long thin eyebrow.

"Fingerprints or DNA from the killer might be preserved in it," he explained quickly. Lillie remembered that he had worked in law enforcement before he came to Hogwarts.

"Well that's all very well, but in that case how do you expect to find out who the victim is?" McGonagall snapped.

"Could you lift the spell that stops people apparating within the school?"

"That would take some time."

"What about a ghost; we could ask one to go see who it is for us."

McGonagall considered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Stay here," she commanded him. "I'll go and get one."

"Don't worry, someone's just arrived," Professor Stokes answered as the Grey Lady drifted through a nearby wall.

"My Lady?" called Professor McGonagall.

The Grey Lady turned and examined the headmistress for a few seconds before replying with a gentle, "Yes."

"I was wondering if you would mind having a look inside that room for us."

Only then did the ghost seem to notice the scene around her. She grimaced haughtily but nodded all the same. She drifted toward the closed door and passed straight through like a knife through warm butter. When she was on the other side, Lillie heard a soft, "Oh my!" The two teachers glanced at each other, McGonagall looked nervous, but Stokes looked calm, as though he had done this a thousand times before, which he probably had.

Half a minute later the Lady returned through the door. McGonagall gave her a questioning look, but did not speak. "If he wasn't a ghost, I would have said this was the work of the bloody baron," said the Grey Lady. "I could not make out many features of the poor soul's face, other than that he has an exceptionally large nose. One thing I can tell you is that he works in the department of mysteries; he was wearing the black and gold."

Since the war in 1998, all departments of the ministry of magic were supposed to wear specific coloured robes. However, over the years, people did this less and less. But in the department of mysteries, everyone still wore black robes with golden thread forming thin tendrils across it.

"That sounds an awful lot like Bradley," Professor McGonagall intoned worriedly.

"Isn't he supposed to be looking after-,"

"Ted Lupin, yes. Do you think he did this Nick?"

The Grey Lady spoke up here, "Headmistress, am I right in assuming that Teddy Lupin is the werewolf?" Lillie felt Jeremy move beside her, but she didn't dare to move to see what he was doing because Professor Stokes head had turned in their direction.

Professor McGonagall nodded stiffly. "Well if you look outside, it is not the full moon, and those wounds could not have been inflicted by a child," the Grey Lady explained.

"Anyway, isn't he supposed to be in the department of mysteries?" asked Professor Stokes.

"A lot of things are supposed to happen, Nick, that doesn't mean that they do," retorted Professor McGonagall. "Now I want you to go to the ministry, and find out what has happened to the boy. I will see to it that no student comes near here until all this has been sorted out." She strode off in the direction that she had come and a second later Professor Stokes also turned and started walking in the opposite direction. Lillie made a move to follow him but Jeremy did not budge and so she stopped because she didn't what to leave the cover of the cloak.

As soon as the professor had rounded the corner, she urgently whispered, "Come on!"

Jeremy looked at her dumbfounded. "Lillie, did you hear what they said?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course I did! I was right here," she snapped at him. Why was he wasting so much time? "Why? What's wrong?"

"He's a werewolf," Jeremy explained and Lillie realised that Teddy must never have told Jeremy about his condition and so Jeremy must be very confused or scared just then.

"So?"

"He's a werewolf," repeated Jeremy stupidly.

"That doesn't mean he's not Teddy!" cried Lillie quietly. "He is still our friend and he's not even a full werewolf; trust me, I've seen him at the full moon. I've had a conversation with him after he had transformed."

"But he might have changed. Why else would they have taken him to the department of mysteries?"

"You've slept in the same room for three and a half years. Don't you think he would have attacked you already if he was dangerous?"

"You have a point," conceded Jeremy and then reluctantly, "Okay, let's go."

As they moved away from their spot of wall, Lillie once again looked at the blade. It was disturbingly familiar. "Hold on," she said to Jeremy and pulled them over to have a closer look. It had an ebony handle and upon closer inspection Lillie saw that there was a smaller and jagged blade sticking out halfway up the spine of the blade. The second blade was almost invisible, and the only reason Lillie had noticed it was because she knew it was there. She knew what knife this was.

Lillie shrieked.

It couldn't be. He wouldn't have left it here. She threw the invisibility cloak off her and sprinted down the corridor Jeremy calling after her. When she reached the end of the corridor she collided with Professor Stokes who had obviously run back when he had heard Lillie's scream. Lillie was sent sprawling and she hit the ground hard. Professor Stokes dropped down next to her.

"Lillie? Can you hear me? Are you okay?" he asked.

Lillie groaned. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Professor Stokes noticed Jeremy and he demanded, "What the hell were you two doing here?"

"We were looking for Teddy Lupin," he explained quickly. "We found the blood and were thinking about what to do when Filch arrived. He couldn't see us because we were using an invisibility cloak." He was speaking very quickly. "When you left, Lillie went to have a look at that knife and she sort of freaked out."

To her amazement (no doubt the lucky potion had something to do with it) Professor Stokes nodded thoughtfully. "What happened, Lillie? What do you know?" he asked.

"I know who did it," Lillie burst out. "The knife, it belongs to Ezekielis Bamforth."

"How do you know?"

Lillie looked into Professor Stokes' dark brown eyes and said as calmly as she could, "I know, because he used that knife to torture me for three days while I was being kept locked away in a tower."

Lillie felt sick to her stomach. There was so much blood! Had there been that much up in the tower? She couldn't remember. She didn't want to remember. She had to push those thoughts away and concentrate on the present. That was months ago.

There was a moment's silence but then Professor Stokes regained his composure. "Mr Marlon, I ask you to return to your dormitory immediately. Go to bed and do not speak of this to anyone; at least not until we have returned and the matter is resolved," he told Jeremy.

"We?" Lillie asked, somewhere between hopeful and terrified.

"Hold on," he waved Lillie down. "Jeremy, go now!" he ordered using a voice that showed clearly that there was no point in arguing. Reluctantly Jeremy turned and walked down the corridor. When he was out of sight and presumably out of earshot Professor Stokes crouched down slightly, and he looked at Lillie in a concerned fashion. "Are you okay? I heard about what that man did to you. Hell I saw what happened a few weeks ago."

"I'm fine," Lillie lied but Professor Stokes saw straight through her.

"Lillie," he said gravely, "I can't honestly say I know what you're going through, but I've seen hundreds of other people go through the same or similar. I'm not a shrink, but I do know that it helps to talk. So be honest with me, and tell me how you're feeling."

"Afraid. I'm more afraid than I have been a long time. I'm tired and confused too, but to be honest with you, I'm more worried about Teddy than about any of that."

"You're just a kid. It's okay to be scared; you of all people have the right to be. I know it's scary but-,"

Lillie cut him off. "I may only be thirteen," said Lillie, "but certain… events have cause me to be more mature than most people my age. You don't have to go out of your way to be nice to me. Honestly, I find it infuriating the way some people treat me as though I'm a poor wounded lamb. I don't want pity, it just makes things worse."

Professor Stokes raised his eyebrows slightly but a second later he nodded. "Well then Miss Whitehead, I'm going to need your help, if you're willing that is."

"I am."

"Good. You know Lupin better than most people, so if he has escaped you might help us find him and if he hasn't… well I'm sure he would be more than happy to see you."

"Why ask me?" Lillie asked him. "Jeremy knows him as well as I do, if not better, so does Victoire. And then there's always Harry Potter or Andromeda Tonks."

"I hadn't planned on asking anyone until I knew for sure what had happened to the boy. But you know about this Bamforth person too and besides, if he managed to get into the castle, odds are he's still here somewhere. And if he's in the castle he's probably looking for you so I couldn't leave you alone could I?"

At his words Lillie started to panic, but she forced herself to stay calm. "But surely in that case, everyone in Ravenclaw is in danger," her voice shook and cracked betraying her true emotions. She thought of Jenny and her father, then of Gill, Parvati and the other girls. She thought of Chris, Dan, Jeremy, and all the others.

Professor Stokes frowned for a moment and then pulled out his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" he cried and a large silver-white wolf erupted from his wand.

"What was that for?" Lillie asked as she watched the wolf bound down the corridor brightening the corridor and its shape burning itself onto her eyes so that when she blinked she could still see it.

"It's a message, it will warn Professor Flitwick and some of the others as well," he said. "Now come on we need to get to the ministry." He raised his wand and a bright colourless light emerged from it guiding their steps.

He led the way down the corridor, Lillie hot on his heels. When they reached they turned right towards the stairs.

…

Jeremy reached the end of the corridor and turned right towards the Ravenclaw common room. He still had the invisibility cloak tucked under his arm and he thought he should probably put it on in case he ran into anyone else.

A few corridors later he heard a strange noise behind him and when he turned around he say a large white wolf running his way. It had a strange silver glow about it that mesmerised Jeremy. He realised that it wouldn't be able to see him but he was rooted to the spot and it was coming right for him. He closed his eyes bracing himself for the impact, but it never came. He opened his eyes again and saw that the wolf had gone beyond him and was now running away from him. He made a mental note to thank Lillie later for the lucky potion.

He leaned against a door for half a second, but then spotted something shiny a few feet away. He moved away from the door to have a closer look; it was a large golden galleon. He picked it up and pocketed it.

Suddenly the door he had been leaning on a few moments previously burst open and two people emerged: a Slytherin girl Jeremy vaguely recognised from the year below and an obscenely thin man, with yellow skin sagging off his skeletal face and his hair looked wet with grease. He vaguely recognised the man from somewhere. A newspaper article he had read a while ago. It had been quite a big story, a very big story. The article had had something to do with a girl, no two girls, who had been captured and imprisoned. Jeremy had to stifle a cry; this was none other than Ezekielis Bamforth and the girl must be Mindy Bamforth.

"Mindy, go back to your dormitory, I will sort them out myself," he said.

"But dad-," she started in a plaintive tone.

Ezekielis slapped her. "Now!" he hissed.

Mindy nodded solemnly and headed away from the man. Jeremy knew what he had to do. He started to move back the way he had come, hoping against hope that Ezekielis would not hear his footsteps. Luckily he was wearing nothing but socks on his feet so the noise was minimal. When Ezekielis went back into the room, Jeremy stopped to memorise where it was: opposite the three-armed suit of armour. "Don't move," he whispered and to his surprise the suit turned its head and nodded. It must have been oiled recently because it didn't creak or squeak at all.

Jeremy broke into a run and it was not long before he reached the corridor of blood, but Lillie and Professor Stokes were not there. He continued towards the stairs, he was on the top floor so he didn't have to decide whether to go up or down.

He took the stairs five at a time, but he knew he wouldn't fall; Felix would make sure of that. Soon he heard voices and he followed them. At the third floor he stopped and looked down the corridor, just in time to see one small figure and one much larger one disappear around the corner.

"Lillie!" he called. "Professor Stokes!"

A second later they hurried back around the corner. "Who's there?" called Professor Stokes stepping forward and putting an arm in front of Lillie.

Jeremy pulled the cloak off and it was only then that he realised how out of breath he was. It was not long before Professor Stokes was at his side Lillie running down the corridor behind him.

"What is it? What's happened?" he asked in a voice that made Jeremy feel safe.

"I found Ezekielis Bamforth." Jeremy saw Lillie's eyes widen in panic but she remained silent.

"Where?" demanded the Transfiguration teacher, urgency in his voice.

"He was in the room opposite the three-armed guy."

"What three-armed guy?"

"Suit of armour with three arms," Jeremy explained; he had a horrible stitch, but it seemed to be receding quickly.

Lillie spoke up. "I know the one he means. We passed it on our way to… I thought I only imagined, things look a bit twisted through the cloak."

"Lead on," Professor Stokes instructed her and the girl started to climb back up the staircase followed swiftly by the man and the boy a bit further behind.

By the time they reached the top again Lillie was out of breath and Jeremy was positively heaving, but both forced themselves to keep going and they hurried along the corridors. Jeremy had soon recovered slightly and ass they were about to round the final corner when Jeremy grabbed both of them. Professor Stokes gave him a questioning look but remained completely silent and Jeremy held up the invisibility cloak in response. Professor Stokes nodded and took the cloak from Jeremy.

Lillie and Jeremy moved towards him so that all three would fit under the cloak but he stopped them. "I'm doing this alone," he said to them, so quietly that Lillie almost had to lip read. Lillie opened her mouth in protest but Professor Stokes gave her a look that quelled any resistance. However, just before he disappeared under the cloak Lillie handed him the bottle of Felix Felicis. There was less than a third left, but Professor Stokes seemed to know what it was and he gulped it down quickly and the bottle he handed back was empty of any golden liquid.

A second later the Transfiguration teacher was invisible and Jeremy and Lillie were looking at the spot where he had vanished. Lillie grimly thought back a bit: to when they had been the invisible ones and Professor Stokes in plain sight. She wished then that they could have the invisibility cloak back; what if Ezekielis wasn't in the room anymore? Lillie was suddenly scared. She took a half-step to her left so that she was brushing up against Jeremy and he wrapped an arm around her, which made her feel slightly more secure.

As Lillie could not see Professor Stokes, she had to try and follow him using her ears. But his footsteps were so quiet that Lillie could only hear one in every three or four.

Jeremy pointed at the door and Lillie looked trying to see what Jeremy had. It did not take her long: the doorknob was slowly and silently turning. When it gave a click Lillie nearly screamed. The doorknob had stopped moving now and Professor Stokes was obviously waiting to see if whoever was inside had heard the click. If they hadn't heard the click then surely they would be able to hear Lillie's heart pounding away somewhere between her tongue and tonsils.

They waited for what seemed like years, and then slowly, so very, very slowly, Professor Stokes began to push the door open. When the door was open an inch or so he stopped and Lillie knew he must be peering inside, he obviously couldn't see much as he then opened the door rapidly, stopping it just before it collided with the wall.

Lillie heard an intake of breath and wanted to go see what had caused it, but something else had caught her attention: another sound coming from behind her; footsteps. Soft and deliberate, but coming nearer all the time. She spun around quickly throwing Jeremy's arm off her as she did so and this time she really did scream.

He had gone back to get the knife, which was now grasped in his right hand. "Well, well, well," he said, his voice like curdled milk, which had festered, putrefied and been stored in a warm environment. "If it isn't little Lillie. How are you? Did you miss me?" All Lillie could do was shake her head as she stared at the blade in her hand.

Then lots of things seemed to happen in very rapid, at the time Lillie could not believe how it had happened but looking back on it she realised it would have been down to the empty bottle in her pocket. The first thing that Lillie noticed was a cat coming around the corner, meowing loudly. Ezekielis turned to see what was making the noise and stumbled slightly as he did so. This must have unbalanced him and his arms were now flailing about. While all this was happening, Professor Stokes had pulled the cloak off and aimed a silent curse at the man.

In one of his attempts to regain balance, Ezekielis swung the knife too close to his own face and he yelled out as his ear detached itself from the rest of his body. At the exact same moment Professor Stokes' spell hit him in the back of the head. The combined force of these two injuries brought him down and Lillie was surprised when Jeremy pointed _his_ wand at the supine figure and called, "Incarcerous."

However, what drew Lillie's attention more than anything else was the red steel on the floor. Except it wasn't entirely red anymore. The section of steel where it had come into contact with Ezekielis had turned black. As Lillie watched, the black spread like bacteria until there was no trace of scarlet left and a second later, small chunks started falling off turning into the colour of ash and smouldering gently on the floor. Soon all that was left was a small pile of grey ash and a horrible, pressing silence, interrupted every now and then by the low unconscious moans that Ezekielis was giving off.

The cat had gone but Professor McGonagall seemed to have come out of nowhere while everything had been going on. "Is everyone alright?" she asked in a voice kinder than anything Lillie would have thought possible from the stern headmistress.

Slowly Jeremy and Lillie nodded.

"Well then may I suggest that you two go back to bed?"

"Perhaps the hospital wing would be more appropriate, Minerva," Professor Stokes chipped in moving behind the two pupils and placing a large comforting hand on Lillie's should and another on Jeremy's. There was a very grave note in his voice and Lillie suddenly remembered his reaction when he had opened the door.

"Yes of course. Jeremy, Lillie, you _should _go to the hospital wing," McGonagall agreed.

Neither of them moved. "What was in that room?" Lillie asked quietly.

"Nothing," Professor Stokes said quickly, but Lillie knew he was lying.

"What happened to Teddy?" she asked, a little more loudly.

"I don't know," he answered and Lillie could hear the stress in his voice. "Come on, you need to go to the hospital wing."

"There's nothing wrong with me! What's happened to Teddy?"

"Lillie," Professor Stokes said warningly.

Lillie sighed, took a deep breath and ducked under Professor Stokes' arm and ran to the open door. She swallowed and looked away; Filch's body was on the floor. Lillie had seen Filch earlier that night with, "Vicky!" Lillie cried.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. Victoire's alright," he crooned soothingly, moving towards her, but every step he took forward Lillie countered with another step backwards and eventually he stopped moving.

"Where is she?" Lillie asked.

"Lillie! Jeremy! Go to the hospital wing immediately," ordered Professor McGonagall.

"Lillie," Jeremy said reluctantly. "We'd better go; we're not going to find Teddy, and anyway, I think we've been through enough tonight."

Lillie laughed. "I've been through worse. I've been through worse than him!" she pointed at Ezekielis, still unconscious and bound on the floor.

"I'm going," he said flatly. "I'm sorry, but I…" he sighed. "I can't handle this. Were you really thinking of going to the department of mysteries? Lillie, you're only 13."

"I was seriously thinking about it and I still am," she replied coolly. And she was off again, she ran as fast as she could away from the group.

She heard footsteps behind her and knew that Professor Stokes would be following her. She didn't even know where she was going; she just ran and ran, jumping through every secret passage she found. At one point, she saw Fred and George junior. "Hello Lillie," they called in unison.

"Stop him," Lillie called breathlessly to them.

"What else would we do," said George with a wicked grin.

Lillie had no idea what the twins did, but it must have done something because there was a temporary break and the pursuing footsteps.

She, however, kept running until she found herself in a room that was full of cupboards she jumped into a random one and hoped that when Professor Stokes entered the room he would ran straight through.

But his luck was stronger than hers and he stopped as soon as he entered the room. "Lillie," he called. "I know you're in here. Please just come out. I won't hurt you. I want to talk with you; I know you don't want to talk, but you can't always get what you want." Lillie did not move a muscle. "Are you going to force me to search every closet?" Again Lillie didn't say anything and she heard his sigh. "Hominum revelio," he said tonelessly.

Lillie felt an odd sensation, as though she was in the shadow of something large that was swooping low over her. She knew then, that he knew exactly where she was, yet still she didn't move.

She heard him coming towards her and soon the cupboard doors were being opened. "Hello Lillie."

"I'm a broom," she muttered, her voice sad, quiet and frail.

Professor Stokes chuckled. "Well I'm not really in the mood for flying," he joked but Lillie didn't smile. She wasn't angry anymore; she had used up her anger and her fight and now was left feeling empty and hopeless. "Come out of the cupboard Lillie," he urged her gently. And she did as he asked.

There was a bench next to the cupboard and Professor Stokes sat Lillie down on it before sitting down beside her. He put one strong arm around her shoulders and she sank into it. Soon she was crying, letting the tears that had been threatening to consume her for weeks finally come through. Lillie wasn't sure what she was crying about: Teddy, Victoire, both, neither, herself, her family, Jenny and the list went on.

Then Professor Stokes was on his feet looking at the door that they had come through, it was opening.

The person who stepped through the door was a girl with long blonde hair. "Victoire," Lillie breathed, relief coursing through her body. She hurried to the blonde girl and the two fell into each other's arms. A few seconds later, they broke apart and Victoire asked, "Did you find Teddy?" She sounded exhausted and a little bit scared; her voice was slightly hoarse as well.

"Kind of," Lillie said and Victoire looked at her with a worried expression.

Professor Stokes stepped forward. "He's supposed to be at the ministry of magic, but his guard was killed, so we're not sure if he's still there. I'm about to go there now. If you two go to the hospital wing, I'll tell you everything when I…" he trailed off. The door at the other end of the room was opening now, it was large and dark; Lillie had never seen it before. Professor Stokes gripped his wand firmly and tensed, ready to pounce. The door creaked open slowly as though whoever was pushing it was having some trouble with it.

Then a thin and pitiable figure fell through once the gap was about a foot wide. The figure lay on the floor for a moment and Professor Stokes began to move towards it. He, for he looked like a boy to Lillie, was quite tall with limp golden hair which had faded to the colour of old straw.

The Transfiguration teacher crouched down beside him blocking him from view. He seemed to pick the boy up and then he turned to face the two anxious girls. "I won't be going to the ministry after all. Teddy's right here."

**A/N:**

**I know this chapter has taken me far too long. But I tried so hard for this one and I'm still not happy with it. I wrote and re-wrote the first 500 words or so about 15 times before giving up. And for that I would like to thank BananaLollypop and Zheeba89 for helping me get back on track and to give it another go. It's nearly four in the morning here and I am exhausted. But I'm sure you'll all be glad to know that in all the nights that I have stayed up trying (and failing horribly) to write this chapter I have come up with some stuff for the future. I have something big planned for the end of Lillie's fifth year and something else that I haven't decided where I'm going to put it. So in the end a happy ending to a grim chapter I hope you don't mind. Please review. I'm so tired and it makes me so happy when people review and I know I've said this before and not, but the next chapter will be up far sooner and if it isn't, I will delete the fic, or pass it on to some more capable hands.**

**Please review****! And if you get bored before my next chapter is up, how about checking out the two oneshots that I've written.****  
>Goodbye: <strong> s/7172197/1/Goodbye**  
>Recovery: <strong> s/8233495/1/Recovery

**I also think you should check out Zheeba89's first attempt at writing. It's a oneshot from the Danish series The Shamer's Daughter and is really good. It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of the series before; it's a good fic and I know that she would appreciate it.**

**Oh yeah and now that I've written such a long author's note I can finally celebrate reaching 90000 words!**

**WTCST**


	26. The Girls Who Waited

Silver Lining

Chapter 25: The Girls Who Waited

Three days later Lillie was still being kept in the hospital wing along with Victoire and Teddy; Jeremy had been let out the day before because he had "less psychological damage" according to Professor Stokes.

Victoire had told Lillie all about how Ezekielis and Mindy had ambushed her and Filch on the sixth floor landing. "The old guy went straight for Filch and Mindy came after me, but I ran. She sent a few jinxes at me, but luckily I had my wand because I thought I might need it when we went looking for Teddy." At this point she had glanced at the motionless figure in the next bed a look of uncertainty on her face; Teddy hadn't moved since or even snored since he'd arrived in the hospital wing. "So I managed to block a few spells. I think one of them hit me but I managed to get away alright in the end."

"What was the spell," Lillie had asked only half paying attention.

"I don't know, but it made me feel sleepy. Anyway, I can't really remember much else, just that soon after that I was in that room and you were there, and then," she glanced at Teddy, "he turned up. What happened then?"

"I think you passed out," Lillie had told her. "But Professor Stokes carried the two of you here. He kind of half-dragged me as well. He's pretty strong."

"Stokes? He's the guy who teaches you Transfiguration isn't he?"

"Yeah. Wait, doesn't he teach you as well?"

"No, I've got some crazy Welsh guy called Llewellyn."

"So do all subjects have more than one teacher?"

"Lillie, you've been at this school for three years! You should know by now."

"I know I _should,_ but I don't."

"Most do. Think about it, there are about 80 people in each year, you can't expect one person to teach 80 people in 7 different years."

That had been the day before. Absolutely nothing had happened since then. It was very late in the evening now and Victoire was asleep in the bed opposite her but she hadn't been able to sleep and had turned on her bedside light and was reading one of the only muggle books that she had been able to find in Flourish & Blott's: _Never Leave Me_. She vaguely remembered watching the film with her parents when she was younger, but when she had mentioned it, no one here knew what she was talking about. However, she thought it was important to stay in touch with the muggle world.

She had just started the second section of the book when she heard a low groaning sound from the other side. She looked up expecting to see Victoire moving but it was Teddy who was stirring. Although as Lillie watched, writhing seemed to be a better word. Lillie got out of bed and twisted her lamp over to face him but the light wasn't strong enough for her to make anything out so she moved over towards his bed. When she was halfway there light filled the room as madam Cunaxa, Professor McGonagall, Professor Stokes and several people Lillie didn't know crowded into the room, each one with lit wands.

One of the strangers pointed his wand at Lillie, who had frozen like a deer in the headlights. "Who's she?" he asked. His voice was rough and sneering.

"A student, you imbecile," said McGonagall quietly but she was no less fearsome than ever. "So point your wand somewhere else." The man moved his wand away from Lillie's face.

"What are you doing up girl?" the man asked.

"I- I couldn't sleep," Lillie said, her voice higher than usual. "And then Teddy started making noises so I just wanted to check that he was okay," she justified.

"Well get back to bed," he ordered.

"You have no right to command the students here," McGonagall told him. "Nick, can you deal with Lillie?" Stokes nodded and moved over to where Lillie was standing.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

Lillie nodded and Professor Stokes guided her over towards the bed with Lillie craning her neck to see what was happening behind her. When she reached her bed Lillie asked, "What's going to happen to Teddy?"

"Nothing serious is going to happen him. They're just gonna take him out for tonight and keep an eye on him. He'll be back in the morning."

"Do you promise?" Lillie asked, sounding like a small child.

"I promise," he answered, giving a low and gentle chuckle. He then drew the curtains around her and went to re-join the rest of the group.

The next morning when Lillie woke up, the curtains were still drawn around her. She climbed slowly out of bed and pulled them back. A yellow streak came flying towards her and Victoire was jabbering away at her so quickly that Lillie could not make out a word that was said. "Victoire, slow down and tell me what's wrong!" Lillie cried.

Victoire took a deep breath before saying, "He's gone. Teddy's gone."

"What? He told me that they would bring him back. He promised!" Lillie said, the faintest note of hysteria in her voice.

Victoire went from upset to confused in an instant. "Who are you talking about Lillie?"

"Last night a whole bunch of people came in while you were asleep. They took Teddy away. Professor Stokes said that they would bring him back this morning," Lillie explained.

"Well, it's only eight thirty," said Victoire hopefully. "Maybe if we wait…"

And so they did. It was not like the days before when they had been bored to death of the hospital wing and were waiting to get out or for Teddy to wake up and tell them what had happened to him. This time the tension was palpable. But there was nothing else they could do, so they waited.

Half an hour later, it was nine o'clock and both girls jumped as the door opened, but it was simply madam Cunaxa coming in to give them their breakfast.

Ten o'clock.  
>Eleven o'clock.<br>Their untouched breakfasts grew colder as the morning came to an end. In the distance Lillie faintly heard the ringing of the bell that hung over the entrance hall. Twelve, long, slow and deliberate rings sounded. Victoire caught Lillie's eye and both girls grew more worried, but they kept waiting nevertheless.

At one o'clock the door opened again, but once more it was madam Cunaxa who took away their breakfast trays and gave them each their lunch. "Where's Teddy?" Lillie asked.

"He's probably in lessons, or maybe he's at lunch," the matron told them hurriedly.

"Has he been let out?" Victoire asked incredulously.

The matron paused a moment before saying, "Yes, he was deemed well enough."

"How come we're not allowed out then?" she asked.

"Because you're too psychologically damaged," the matron told her.

Victoire gave Madam Cunaxa a look that clearly stated she thought the matron was the one with psychological damage.

"But we're fine," Lillie told her.

"No, no you need to rest," the Madam Cunaxa told them.

"We've done nothing but rest for the past three days," Victoire moaned

"And anyway, if we're so _psychologically damaged_," Lillie's voice oozed sarcasm, "shouldn't we be talking to a counsellor rather than cooped up with no contact to the outside world?"

"That comes later," snapped the matron. "Now no more questions." She turned and left abruptly.

"There is absolutely zero chance of Teddy being 'in lessons'," Victoire said scathingly. "They've obviously just left us in here because they think we'll cause trouble if we're out."

"To be fair we would," admitted Lillie and Victoire shrugged.

The two of them reverted into silence. Lillie pulled out her book and started to read and Victoire started fiddling with her wand.

Lillie couldn't concentrate on her book and repeatedly lost focus. She didn't know how much time had passes before Victoire spoke. "We should ambush her when she next comes in," Victoire mused sourly. Lillie looked up; there was an odd, twisted expression on Victoire's face which unnerved her slightly.

"Vicky, they'll be expecting us to. It wouldn't surprise me if there was someone standing outside right now," Lillie answered, she was surprised at how hopeless she sounded. How had it come to this?

"Well then we wait-,"

"What have you been doing all day then?" Lillie interrupted impatiently.

"No, listen to me. We wait until she comes in to give us dinner and you petrify her or something," Victoire said excitedly.

Lillie on the other hand was not so excited by this prospect. "And what will you be doing while this this is happening?"

"I'll wait by the door and deal with whoever is out there," she said happily.

"Do you honestly think that we'd be able to do that? We're just two girls, Vicky," Lillie spoke the words that had been spoken to her so many times. She had always maintained that it didn't matter that she was only thirteen if her determination was strong enough, but she was no longer sure if she believed that or maybe her determination wasn't strong enough.

"So? My aunt and uncles defeated You-know-who for the first time when they were only eleven. We're just taking on some random auror who is probably bored out of his mind," she insisted.

"I'm not sure."

"Come on," she pleaded.

"Okay, we might as well. I suppose it can't hurt," conceded Lillie.

"Yes!" cried Victoire.

And so they started waiting again, Lillie occasionally nibbling at her lunch. They were given dinner at 7 o'clock and so a few minutes before; Victoire went to stand next to the door and Lillie sat up with her wand clutched firmly beneath the covers.

It wasn't long before they heard the bell ring again and right on cue the door opened. As planned Lillie waited for madam Cunaxa to come further into the room so that Victoire could creep around the door.

Just as the matron reached her bed, Lillie pulled out her wand and quickly said, "Petrificus totalus."

To her amazement the nurse seized up and her arms snapped to her side and her legs together. The only drawback was that the trays went clattering to the floor. Lillie looked towards the door and was surprised to see Victoire standing with a large grin on her face and another petrified man lying on the floor in front of her. Lillie vaguely recognised him as one of the men from the night before.

"Come on," Victoire beckoned. "These spells won't last forever."

"Where do we go first?" Lillie asked.

"Ravenclaw tower of course. We need to check that madam Cunaxa was actually lying."

"She was," Lillie assured her. "But I've got another reason. We need to get the invisibility cloak again. I'm hopping Jeremy still has it."

"I didn't know he had an invisibility cloak," Victoire said as they made their way through the corridors.

"It's Teddy's," Lillie told her.

"Does that thing still work?" Victoire asked incredulously.

"Shouldn't it?"

"Well it's really old. It used to be Uncle Harry's and it was his father's before that for Merlin knows how long," she explained. "It's as though you had a dress that lasted three generations," she concluded in typical Victoire fashion.

They continued in silence for a long time. The corridors were empty because everyone was still at dinner and so their journey was uninterrupted except by a ghost that Lillie didn't recognise.

When they reached the common room, it was almost deserted there were a few sixth or seventh years, who didn't spare them a second glance. The girls made their way upstairs Lillie unconsciously moved towards her dormitory door, but pulled back at the last second remembering that that wasn't where she wanted to go. She hesitated slightly as she remembered the last time that she had been in there. She wanted to know how Jenny was. She pushed the thought aside and made her way up the stairs to the next floor where she turned to face the door that she knew led to Teddy's (and Jeremy's) dormitory.

She opened the door and luckily, Jeremy was sitting on his bed a large book in his hands, he looked up at them and a surprised expression crossed his face. "Lillie! Victoire! Have you finally been let out?"

"Something like that," Victoire said. "But there are more important things than our freedom. Rumour has it you still have an invisibility cloak and we'd like to use it. Not that it's actually yours," she added thoughtfully.

He gave them an odd look which Lillie found irritating, but before she could say anything he asked, "Now, why would you want that?"

Lillie's eyes narrowed as Victoire said, "Teddy of course."

A flicker of shock rippled across Jeremy's chiselled features but he composed himself quickly enough, "Why? What's happened to Teddy?"

"They've taken him again," Victoire said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And I suppose you want to go looking for him again?" He looked at us expectantly and Victoire nodded guiltily. Lillie on the other hand remained completely still and when Jeremy turned his gaze on her she held it.

"What?" she asked far more aggressively than she had intended and Jeremy raised his eyebrows.

"Do you honestly think you'll be able to do anything other than get yourself and Victoire into trouble?" Lillie opened her mouth but Jeremy stopped her. "Don't answer that; rhetorical question. Listen to me Lillie, after last time you're lucky to be alive. And besides when they find out that you and Victoire are out of the hospital wing, they'll be expecting you to go looking for Teddy. It wouldn't surprise me if someone came to look for me too."

"Don't you care about Teddy?" Lillie asked.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "For Merlin's sake, Lillie, of course I do. But, for all we know he could be dangerous!"

"HE IS _NOT_ DANGEROUS!" Lillie yelled and both Victoire and Jeremy hushed her. She calmed just enough to regain control of her voice. "I've been with him when during the full moon and he can talk and everything." In her heart she knew that she sounded like a sulky six year old but her head ignored that.

"Maybe he used to be like that, but a month ago he hunted and ate a raw deer," Jeremy said; his voice sound strained. "Who knows what will happen next? I overheard some of the people from the ministry talking. They said he's the first of his kind. Lillie we don't know what he might do now or ever. We just have to wait."

"I've been waiting for a long time," said Lillie, hearing how tired she sounded, even though all she had done for the past three days was lie in bed.

"Well then you've had plenty of practice.

"But they can't keep him forever," Lillie said sounding desperate.

"And what would you do if somehow you did get him out of the department of mysteries? Would you go on the run?"

Lillie fell silent for a moment. "Why are you trying so hard to stop me anyway?"

Jeremy stood up and fluidly moved towards Lillie, who eyed him warily. When he was less than a foot away from her he leaned down and kissed her. It was quick, gentle, but unmistakeably deliberate. "Because believe it or not, I actually care about you," he answered. Without further ado, he turned around and walked out the door.

"Well that was unexpected," Victoire stated.

**Author's note:**

**Okay first of all, thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker, because it's been a while since I've done that.**

**Secondly, thanks to all of you who reviewed especially Zheeba89, who wrote a review about as long as this entire chapter.**

**But what I don't understand is how thirty people can be following this story, but I'm lucky to get only two reviews for each chapter. I know I might not be the most reliable updater but I always will, no matter how long it takes. I WILL.**

**Okay mini-rant over. Now I need to say sorry about taking so long to write this short chapter. I'm on holiday with my dad and whenever I try to write he's all like, "Why aren't you taking advantage of the holiday, bla bla bla.**

**Hope you liked it, I have absolutely no idea when the next chapter will be out.**

**WTCST**


	27. Normal?

Silver Lining

Chapter 26: Normal?

Lillie and Victoire slowly and grudgingly wandered back towards the hospital wing neither one saying anything. The kiss was at the forefront of Lillie's mind; she kept replaying it and the conversation leading up to it in her head until she was convinced she could still feel his lips and smell his sweet breath.

She shook her head clear and thought of the long hours she would be spending in the hospital wing to contemplate the day's events. After what she and Victoire had done there was absolutely no chance that they would be allowed out before the end of term. Seeing as it was only February that could be a very long time.

When they turned into the corridor they saw that the petrified body of the auror had been removed and they could hear raised voices from inside the sickbay. The girls hesitated outside the door to listen for a bit.

"They're just kids," Lillie heard someone, Professor Stokes by the sound of it, say.

They attacked an auror and-," a gruff unfamiliar voice started but Professor Stokes cut him off.

"And beat him! Maybe you should look into that."

"Nick!" scalded a voice that was unmistakeably Professor McGonagall's. "They attacked a ministry official as well as the school matron unprovoked. Admittedly what Otis is suggesting is too extreme but they need to be punished nevertheless."

"Unprovoked? They were locked in here for days without company or visitors; meanwhile their best friend was somewhere in the department of mysteries with who knows what around him. And don't get me started the whole Bamforth fiasco. That's punishment enough for two girls. I wouldn't call that unprovoked and I'm from Texas. If I was in their position I might have lashed out as well."

There was a silence from within the moment and so Victoire opened the door. Professor Stokes was standing square on to a man who was clearly another auror. Professor McGonagall was standing a bit beyond the pair and Madam Cunaxa was sitting in a chair between two of the beds. All four heads turned to look at the two girls who had caused the scene in the first place.

The auror turned, walked up to them paused slightly and was out the door before anyone else could do anything. Lillie was sure he had said something to Victoire but did not want to ask. Madam Cunaxa's cheeks went slightly red and she averted her gaze and brushed invisible crumbs off her robes. The headmistress raised her eyebrows at them and Professor Stokes simply looked confused at their presence.

"Girls," said Professor McGonagall, "I'm glad you've decided to come back." The she too left the room.

"You're free to go," said Madam Cunaxa hurriedly before going into her office leaving the girls and Professor Stokes alone.

"Walk and talk," Professor Stokes told them and they left the hospital wing.

As soon as they were out the door Lillie rounded on Victoire, "What did he say to you?" she demanded.

"He said…" Victoire gulped and started again. "He said to remember whose control Teddy is under."

"I'm gonna guess that he didn't phrase it that way," said Professor Stokes and Victoire shook her head. "I have no idea how he got so high up at the ministry."

"Why? Who is he?" asked Lillie.

"His name is Dolorian Umbridge. He's a good auror; he knows how dark wizards think, not surprising really when his sister's spending forty years in Azkaban. Anyway, he's always had a disliking for things like centaurs, werewolves and mermaids and any animal that can think for itself. He wants to put Teddy in Azkaban with a 24/7 guard of dementors."

"Dementors?" squeaked Victoire. "I thought those things weren't used anymore."

"They're not, well they're not supposed to be," Professor Stokes reassured her.

"What are dementors?" Lillie asked.

"You don't want to know," Professor Stokes warned her. "Anyway, I've said too much, you two should go see if there's still some dinner left."

They had reached his office and he had opened the door to go in. "Professor Stokes," Lillie called before he closed the door. He opened it again and looked at her questioningly. "Thank you," she said.

"For what?" he asked.

_So much,_ Lillie thought but she decided to keep it simple and said, "For saying the things that I couldn't."

Professor Stokes frowned slightly before nodding and saying, "That's what I'm here for. Well, teaching too."

Then Professor Stokes was inside his office and Lillie and Victoire were traipsing their way back to the Great Hall.

…

Chris Timberlake was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room trying to do his Arithmancy homework but he couldn't concentrate. Lillie was at the forefront of his mind and he could not think about anything else even if he wanted to. As far as he knew they still had her in the hospital wing, but he hadn't been allowed to visit her. Every time he tried he was told that she was 'strictly off limits'. He finally understood why Lillie had found the phrase so infuriating when Teddy had been locked away.

He had questioned Gill's brother as soon as he had left the hospital wing. Jeremy had found this very strange seeing as he and Chris had never really spoken before; at least their conversations had never gone beyond, 'Can you pass the pumpkin juice?' But Chris didn't care what Jeremy thought of him, all he cared about was whether or not Lillie was safe.

On this Jeremy had been reassuring at first: he had told Chris that Lillie and Victoire were both completely fine, just in a state of shock. Chris only realised that Jeremy had been told to say this later. The answer was given too quickly and it didn't seem right anyway. Chris understood then that Lillie and Victoire were probably being cooped up to stop them from causing more trouble.

No one (except Jeremy and he wasn't saying anything) actually knew what really went on that night but rumours were flying around like crazy, most of them involved horrible things happening to Lillie so he tried to ignore them.

Chris emptied his mind as best he could and frowned at his essay: _What are the magical properties of the number 28 and how did these affect __East African nomads?_ "I don't care," he said to the world at large and threw down his quill earning several looks from around the room. "What?" he asked them aggressively. The younger heads turned away immediately as did many of the older heads; Chris was 14 but he was much bigger than most people. The others rolled their eyes and looked back to what they were doing before.

Chris knew he shouldn't get so angry with these people but he was so wound up at the moment. He noticed Dan Short watching him from across the room and immediately felt even worse. Dan had taken the brunt of Chris' bad mood and Dan of all people deserved an apology so Chris made his was over to him. "Hey Dan," Chris started, "I'm sorry about how I've been recently."

"Mate, you don't have to apologise about anything, I know you're having a rough time. It's pretty understandable given what happened in the first year," Dan said matter-of-factly. "Know let's stop talking about it and go have some dinner."

On the way out of the common room they met up with the MacDougal twins, Gill, Parvati and Etta and the atmosphere brightened considerably. The group headed for the Great Hall chatting casually. Chris even joined in and for the first time in several days he almost forgot about Lillie.

They were crossing the flagged paving stones when Jen joined the group. "Hey guys," she said brightly before catching Parvati's eye, the latter nodded and Jen asked, "Chris can I speak to you quickly… in private?" The MacDougal twins started wolf-whistling but stopped abruptly when Etta slapped Alex.

"Uh, sure," answered Chris, perplexed at the girls' behaviour.

The others went into the Great Hall while Jen and Chris stepped out into the Grounds. It was very cold outside and Chris had to stamp his feet and hug himself for warmth. "What is it?" he asked Jen who was in a similar predicament.

"It's about Lillie," Jen started but then hesitated.

Chris took a step towards her, "What do you know?" he asked. Was it him or had the temperature slipped a few degrees?

"Not much," Jen said defensively. "Only what she was doing on the night." Chris didn't say anything but he continued to watch Jen who carried on. "She was going to look for Teddy Lupin."

"How do you know?" asked Chris.

"She had an invisibility cloak under her bed and when I confronted her about it… I thought she might be looking for him and when I asked her she said she was," she concluded weakly.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Chris asked. He had expected to sound angry but his voice cracked while he spoke.

"I wanted to…" Jen trailed off. "Anyway that's all I know. I told the other girls and they agreed that we should tell you," she said quickly before going back inside.

About a minute later Chris followed her in. As he walked across the Entrance Hall he saw a mane of silvery-blond hair and two pairs of feet disappear quickly around the corner but he thought nothing of it. His stomach rumbled and the smell of the dinner lured him in to the Great Hall.

He started to walk towards the Ravenclaw table but changed his mind and instead headed for the Gryffindors. He took a seat beside his brother and the two of them ate dinner in silence. Richard had acquired the same beaten down look as Chris and when the latter contemplated telling his twin what Jen had just told him he thought better of it.

As they had every day since Vicky and Lillie had gone, Chris and Richard waited in the Great Hall long after they had finished. Each one hoping that as the other students left two particular ones would come in.

"So boys," said two voices in unison behind them, "what's for dinner?"

Slowly, ever so slowly, Chris turned around. He wouldn't believe it until he saw it. Slowly, ever so slowly a small brunette and a tall blonde came into view. He had seen it and now he believed it. He let out a strangled cry of mixed emotions and practically tackled the girls to the ground. The group did fall to the ground when Richard joined in.

When they finally untangled themselves Professor Longbottom was standing over them with a half-amused, half-exasperated expression on his face. "This room is for eating, not frolicking," he told them and Chris saw Lillie go bright pink with embarrassment. "Now I think it's time for you four to be in your respective common rooms."

The twins sprung to their feet. Chris offered Victoire his hand while Richard proffered his to Lillie. When both girls had been dragged to their feet they swapped positions and the group left the Great Hall in a happy bubble. In the Entrance Hall they split and Richard headed off to the Gryffindor common room with Victoire while Chris led Lillie back to the Ravenclaw common room.

Neither one wanted to start the inevitable conversation so they just walked in amicable silence until they reached the tower and Chris said, "I bet you haven't been here in a long time," he joked.

"I was here ten minutes ago," Lillie said. Chris looked at her and saw that she was telling the truth.

"Why didn't you come and talk to me?" he asked in mock consternation.

"Because you were busy stuffing your face," Lillie retorted.

"I was worrying about you more like. But why were you here anyway?"

"To get the invisibility cloak; I was going to try and rescue Teddy again, but Jeremy talked me out of it," Lillie explained.

That was when the conversation began in earnest. First of all the pair went in search of an empty classroom; they found one on the seventh floor in a corridor opposite a tapestry of a wizard teaching some trolls to dance ballet by the looks of it. Lillie told Chris everything that had happened since the time when she had started screaming in her room over the holidays. She told him about her accidental attack on the Slytherin's her retreat to Orphan's Hollow. Chris listened in stony silence as she told him how Teddy had found her there and then she stopped talking suddenly and without warning.

"What is it?" Chris asked.

"For you to understand what really happened, I need to tell you a secret, a secret which isn't mine to tell," Lillie said slowly.

"If it's not yours to tell then don't tell it," Chris warned her.

Chris could see the struggle going on behind Lillie's hazel eyes and he wished he could help her, he wished he could do something that would make her happy again, he wanted to make her smile like she used to. But he couldn't. Instead he did the only thing he could think of: he hugged her. He put everything he couldn't say or do into his arms and enveloped Lillie with them and he knew that she was doing the same when he felt her thin arms worm their way out from between their bodies and cling on to him.

Chris bent his neck forward and buried his face in the tangles of her brown hair; it smelled slightly of disinfectant and Chris' joy that she was out of the hospital wing doubled.

Lillie pulled away and Chris looked down on her. She was so small and her days in the hospital wing had made her so thin that all he wanted to do was hold her and never let her out of his sight again. But Lillie couldn't be restrained that easily and he knew that trying to give her boundaries was stupid.

"I trust you," Lillie said quietly and sank down on a sofa that Chris was sure hadn't been there earlier. He didn't know what to say to this so he simply nodded. "But you have to promise me not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," she said; her voice was still quiet but Chris could hear the resolve and ferocity in it.

"I won't," Chris said without even having to think for a moment.

"_Anyone_, Chris. Not Richard, not Dan, not your dad or anyone else. No one can know; I shouldn't know and I definitely shouldn't be telling you," Lillie insisted.

Chris reached across and took one of Lillie's hand in his and looked her dead in the eye and said, "Lillie, I promise never to tell a soul what you are about to tell me. I will take your secrets to the grave, you know that."

"Yes, but this isn't my secret," Lillie reminded him.

"If you want me to keep it secret then I will. I won't tell Rich, dad or anyone else alive or dead."

"Teddy Lupin is a werewolf," Lillie said and then looked at him warily.

"Okay," Chris said.

"But he's not dangerous, or at least he wasn't. And he's not even a proper werewolf, his dad was one but he's never hurt anyone or anything except the deer and even that-"

Chris held up a hand and Lillie stopped talking. "If you trust him then I do too," he told her firmly.

"Thank you," Lillie said. "Well when Teddy found me it was a full moon and he doesn't like it when people are there while he's… when he's transformed so he asked me to leave. I'd only been out for about twenty seconds when I heard a noise; I ran back and he was on the floor covered in blood."

"Twenty seconds?" Chris asked.

"Time isn't the same in the Hollow, he must have been in there for hours," Lillie explained.

Chris lapsed once more into silence as Lillie told him what had happened then. How she had taken him to the hospital wing, where they had realised that he had attacked a deer. Then how from then on the doors to the hospital wing had been permanently closed to her and how she wasn't allowed to see Teddy (Chris already knew this part, because although they hadn't been speaking he had overheard her complaining to Gill). Lillie told him how she and Victoire had planned to rescue Teddy and how Jeremy had seen her in the boy's dormitory and knew it was something to do with Teddy. Then she told him about the night with Ezekielis and everything else that had happened in the lead up to her and Vicky breaking out of the hospital wing. She was telling him about her conversation with Jeremy when she stopped again.

When the silence had gone for slightly too long to be a natural pause Chris asked, "What is it?"

"Promise me you won't get angry," she said and Chris nodded. "Say the words," she persisted making Chris roll his eyes.

"I can't promise that I won't get angry, but I'll keep it under control and remain calm, now tell me what happened," he said.

He had all sorts of horrible images in his head so he was almost relieved when Lillie said, "He kissed me." Almost.

"And what happened then?" he asked making sure to keep his voice level, but even he could hear the strain in his voice.

Lillie explained how she and Victoire had returned to the hospital wing and told him about the scene that had met them there. "And then we came to the Great Hall and you know the rest," she concluded. She looked at him with concern. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Chris said. "It's you I should be worried about."

"But the thing with Jeremy," Lillie said.

"Has happened and there's nothing I can do about it. It's your choice whether or not that will grow into anything more," Chris said indicating with his voice that there was nothing more to discuss in that area.

He looked at Lillie and the look on her face, which was facing the floor, melted away the anger and frustration that had been building up within him. He got up and then sat back down, this time next to Lillie. He put one arm around her and he felt her lean in and rest her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder. _This is the way things should be_ Chris thought to himself but what he said was, "I'm glad to have you back."

She nodded and after a minute said, "Me too."

For a few minutes Chris felt like a normal teenage boy. School, friends, unsure about his relationship status, but he knew that this was only an illusion. At Hogwarts normal days were few and far between. He let these thoughts go and just closed his eyes to enjoy the moment.

…

Meanwhile in the bowels of the ministry Teddy Lupin floated somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. He wasn't sure which was worse. When he was awake he was suspended in the air able to turn freely and move in any way he wished but unable to move left, right, up or down because there was nothing to propel himself off. He was still in his wolf form which meant that although it felt like weeks since he had been taken from the hospital wing he knew it can't have been more than a few hours. When he slipped into unconsciousness, horrible dreams and fantastical nightmares plagued him and he would wake up sitting upright on his bed of nothingness.

He thought back to the last time he had been here. It was not hard seeing as it was only a few days previously. But he had gotten out. How? He remembered there had been a scuffle outside the door. A few seconds later his guard had burst in duelling with a man whose face Teddy couldn't see.

The guard had pointed his wand at Teddy and cried something causing Teddy to fall to the floor. The guard had shouted for Teddy to run. He did not need telling twice and he was soon running out through a door at the other end of the room.

He couldn't really remember what he had done from there. He just knew that he ran through countless doors, rooms and corridors most containing some strange thing or another but he never stopped to look at any of them. When he had become too tired to run he began to walk. He had walked for a long time and then when he opened a door Lillie was running towards him. Victoire was there as well, and a tall man with, short dark hair, who Teddy had vaguely recognised. Was he a teacher?

The next time Teddy woke up he was back in the floating room no longer entirely sure of anything. Had Lillie, Victoire and the teacher simply been another dream? Teddy was sure that that was real, but it just didn't make sense.

He decided to count in the hope that it would soothe him and make him forget everything he wanted to forget: his latest nightmare, his current predicament. He had reached 29,374 when he realised that he must have been counting for several hours. He did the maths in his head – over 8 hours.

He had been counting for eight hours. Surely this meant that he would be back in human form soon. He lapsed once more into unconsciousness hoping that when he woke up he would be human again.

The counting must have soothed him slightly because his dreams were sweet and peaceful, if a little fragmented: a bird in a tree, an endless field, a clear night sky where an owl hooted serenely, snow falling on the other side of a window, a fire in a hearth, the field again (this time dotted with pale purple flowers), a trickling brook, a large smooth lake, a second bird in the tree to join the first one, a gentle breeze in a desert. Every time an image reappeared it would be slightly different.

When he woke he did not feel refreshed. In fact he felt the same as before, he looked at his body and was dismayed to see that it was still not human. It must have been twelve hours by now, but nothing was any different to when he had woken up here for the first time after seeing Lillie and Victoire.

He let himself recede back into unconsciousness as he was still as tired as ever and when he next returned he knew that something must be wrong. He hadn't done anything for hours and yet he didn't need the bathroom nor was he thirsty or hungry and he was _still_ a wolf.

It wasn't uncomfortable, but Teddy had never liked the way he was at the full moon, he never let anyone see him that way; not his grandmother, or Harry or Ginny.

It took many more slips in and out of consciousness before Teddy realised what was going on. Or at least came up with an idea that didn't seem ridiculous. His body had been put on hold so to speak. He wouldn't be changing back anytime soon; he would hang here, exactly the way he was until someone let him down.

He did not know where he was but he had a horrible feeling that all the time he was unconscious, they were analysing him. He didn't know who they were and this made things a hundred times worse.

To confirm his plan he held his breath, twenty seconds, thirty, a minute, two minutes, ten minutes… Just as he thought, he was suspended in time. He was only breathing out of habit, not out of necessity.

"Hello," he called out, not really expecting anyone to answer.

As he expected there was no one around to answer. But after the echoes had died away a light came on somewhere behind him.

**Author's note:**

**This chapter did not finish where I planned. But I promised that as soon as I had internet I would update what I had written so far. I'm not back from my holiday yet, but the place we're currently staying has wifi so I'm updating quickly.**

**Thanks to AnimeFlowerGirl and Facetaker for inspiring me to write and also to Zheeba89, Banana Lollypop, I'mMrRecklessWithACapitalR, for reviewing which is awesome.**

**I will respond to PMs when I get home (I don't know when that will be exactly) and then it's back to school so I won't be updating as frequently as I have been, especially since I'm starting at a new school.**

**Please review**


	28. Unwanted Release

Silver Lining

Chapter 27: Unwanted Release

When Teddy twisted around to see who was behind him, he was blinded by a bright light emanating from the tip of a wand. That was all he could see before he had to cover his eyes with his hands and look away from the light.

"Stupefy," a female voice said calmly. Teddy knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it and resigned himself to another bout of unconsciousness. This time, however, there were no dreams and when he resurfaced he did feel different, but not good different.

He looked down at his right arm, the source of his newfound discomfort but couldn't see anything. He pulled it closer to his face and saw it: a small round scar right above his vein. He wasn't entirely sure what it meant but he had the impression that whoever had been in here earlier had taken his blood. Quite a bit too by the light-headedness he was now feeling and which he knew would not go away while he was suspended in this timeless zone where nothing changed.

Nothing changed. He looked at his arm again and relief swept through him when he realised that there was no more hair than there should be on a fifteen year old boy. He looked at the rest of his body just to make sure that he wasn't still in wolf form. He sat up and found that there was something on top of him.

He looked down and saw that he was tangled up in a thick white duvet. That's when his brain, slightly dizzy from lack of blood, realised that he wasn't hanging in mid-air anymore but rather lying in a very cosy and warm bed.

He tried to see where he was but all he could see were white curtains on all sides. He heard some footsteps on the other side of the curtain and he tried to call out to whoever they belonged to but all that came was a dry croak. The footsteps stopped and then seem to come quickly towards him. The curtains were opened and a woman with a thin face framed with black chin-length hair stepped into his enclosure.

It took him a moment to recognise Madam Cunaxa the school nurse, but when he finally brought her face into full detail, he felt relief was through him; he was finally back on familiar ground. For how long he didn't know and he tried not to think about that.

She nodded when she saw that he was awake and then started feeding him potion by the spoonful, it tasted of salt and butter, but Teddy's mind wasn't really focused on that and he let the disgusting solution trickle down his gullet without a word of complaint. When she had finished the bottle she summoned a bottle of water which she placed on his bedside table before leaving his little section and closing the curtains behind him.

A few minutes later he heard a door open on the other side of the drapes. Vicky's panicked voice cried, "Can we see him?"

"Yes, but be gentle, the operation took a lot out of him," scolded the nurse.

"Come on then," it was Jeremy's voice this time. Teddy had about a second to register the joy he felt at the sound of their voices before the curtains.

"Teddy!" Victoire squealed, barely able to stop herself from jumping up and down.

"How are you, mate?" Jeremy asked at the same time. Lillie was also there standing behind them looking very happy but remaining silent.

Teddy opened his mouth but was unable to speak. He groggily reached for the water and chugged down half the bottle. After that he was able to speak if a little gruffly and they hadn't breached any serious subjects before Madam Cunaxa came along and ushered the others out saying that Teddy needed to rest.

But Teddy couldn't rest; when he wasn't rejoicing at his return he was worryingly frantically about how long it would be before he was taken away again. No one had told him about what had happened or what was going to happen to him and so he naturally assumed the worst.

His fears increased the next day when Professor McGonagall came into the room with a concerned expression. But when she caught sight of him her face cleared immediately, and she looked almost happy.

"I have some good news and some bad news," she told him.

"What's the bad news?" Teddy asked grimly.

"It's the Easter Holidays tomorrow you were in the ministry for months," McGonagall explained.

"Was I? It only felt like a few days," Teddy said. Relief coursed through his veins as the initial shock wore off and Teddy suddenly felt revitalised and rejuvenated. "What's the good news?"

"You're no longer… what you were."

"What do you mean?" he asked uncertainly; how could this be good news?

"Now, at the full moon you'll be able to go to bed like a normal pupil and not have to worry about a thing," she said. "I understand that this will be a massive shock for you as it was a significant part of you, but the Ministry didn't know what your condition might bring but they found a way to remove it. It was either that or be kept under ministry guard at all times."

Teddy opened his mouth and a cry left his lips. He wasn't sure what it was though: joy, grief, confusion, surprise, relief. He took a breath and said as calmly as he could, "Do you think I could have a moment alone, Professor?"

"Of course," she said and left closing the curtains around him.

Teddy didn't know how to feel or what to do and he simply stared at the white curtains, stirring slightly in the breeze that had found its way through a window somewhere to his left. He stared at the curtain for about an hour too stunned to do anything.

Eventually he stood up to go to the loo. The movement helped to focus his mind, which to be perfectly honest was not something that he wanted to do. He knew that he should be glad that he was normal, but there was something that was nagging at him. It was as though a part of him was gone, had been taken away without his permission while he slept.

He needed to talk to someone, but he couldn't think who. Victoire? No she wouldn't understand the problem. Jeremy? No, he didn't know about Teddy's condition. Harry? No, Harry would expect him to be happy. Then he remembered the girl who had stood quietly at the back when they had come to visit him: Lillie.

Teddy walked over to Madam Cunaxa's office and knocked on the door. There was no reply; she must have gone out. Teddy considered leaving, but thought better of it; for the next few days it would probably be better to behave.

…

For once though, Teddy seemed to be in luck as Lillie came to visit him the next morning and she was alone too. For a while both of them just sat in silence and then, quite suddenly, Lillie hugged him very tightly for about two seconds and when she stopped there was a large smile on her face, and Teddy couldn't help but crack a grin too.

"What is it?" he asked after a short, happy pause.

"I wasn't sure what to think of you being here, but I've decided that I'm happy about it," she said in a manner that reminded Teddy of a small child.

"Everyone else seemed to have already decided," he pointed out.

"True, but…"

"But in typical Lillie fashion you manage to think of a reason not to be, and probably a good one too," Teddy finished for her. Lillie looked slightly taken aback for a moment but then shrugged. "Spit it out, what was it?"

Lillie hesitated for a moment but plunged right in. "Well you were in the ministry for a long time and then they suddenly give you back-,"

"Give me back? I'm yours am I?" Teddy teased

"You know what I mean, and anyway you are mine so that's irrelevant," she retorted making Teddy snort, which in turn caused Lillie to start giggling and fall off the end of Teddy's bed and soon they were both laughing hysterically.

"Okay, okay," Teddy panted, regaining control of himself. Lillie stopped laughing as well but as soon as they looked at each other it started again. It was about a minute before they stopped again and this time they didn't break down again. "So I'd been there for a long time," Teddy prompted.

The last traces of laughter disappeared from Lillie's face as she continued, "Well it was a bit odd that they suddenly _give you back_ without warning. They must have done something, or reached a conclusion and I was worrying about what that could be."

At the end of Lillie's confession Teddy also forgot about the earlier hilarity. "Well they _did_ do something, and I actually wanted to talk to you in particular about that."

Lillie's face looked half apprehensive, half curious. "Why did you want to speak to me in particular?

"Various reasons but they're not important, unless you'd rather talk about them then about what happened," Teddy snapped back, tension rising inside him.

"No. Of course not, I'm sorry," Lillie said hurriedly and the tension ebbed away again.

"Well according to McGonagall I'm no longer a werewolf," Teddy said quickly. He half-expected Lillie to remind him that 'It's _Professor _McGonagall.' But to her credit her only reaction was to show surprise. "Aren't you happy?"

After some deliberation she slowly said, "I have no right to be happy about it if you're not."

"Who says I'm not happy?"

"You don't look or sound happy."

Teddy frowned deeply. "I'm not sure," he said quietly. "Would you be happy if you were in my place?"

"The obvious answer is yes," said Lillie, "but from you're reaction I reckon I might not be." She considered the matter for a while and Teddy started to regret telling her. "I suppose… that it's… a part of who you are. Even if you do find it annoying, you don't want it taken away. I mean… For example, Milo used to annoy me so much…" she trailed off.

"Milo was you little brother wasn't he?" Teddy asked gently and Lillie nodded sadly.

"He used to piss me off so much, but I would much rather still have him."

"Exactly," Teddy said. "I'm not saying that it was like having a little brother – maybe an evil twin – but it was a part of me and to have it taken away from me so suddenly…"

"Your eyes have gone blue," Lillie told him.

"Are you surprised? It's not exactly a joyful topic, but if it bothers you…" he stopped speaking and screwed up his face. When he relaxed again his eyes were golden.

Lillie smiled. "Maybe we should change the subject then," she suggested. "Are you going to come see the play?"

"If I'm allowed to go then I definitely will. Every night if you want me to," he answered.

"Well you've already missed five. But just one is enough. I don't want to steal all your time; it's going to be a busy couple of days for you."

"I am so excited!" he said with mock enthusiasm. "I am going to have to do so much work," he moaned.

"Enjoy," Lillie told him. "Anyway I've got to go, I have drama now and we've got auditions."

"For what?" Teddy asked astounded.

"The school play," Lillie answered.

"What are you in then?"

"I'm in Romeo and Juliet."

"Which is?"

"It's the junior play. The senior play was last term and the whole school one is next term. You're in the fourth year, how do you not know this yet?" she asked incredulously before making her way out.

…

Lillie was having lunch with Gill, Parvati and Etta when Teddy ambled into the Great Hall. The other girls were bombarding her with questions about Thomas Hart (the actual Romeo to her Juliet) so she didn't notice Teddy until a fourth year further down the table cried out, "Hey, it's Teddy!"

As she had said, she didn't want to take up all his time, so she just smiled as he went by and he nodded back.

It seemed that Teddy had been missed as everyone seemed to be listening to him answer questions and Lillie chose this time to make her way out of the Great Hall. She already knew the answers and anyway she needed a nap.

The past few weeks had been really stressful, filled with play rehearsals, homework, worries about Teddy and insomnia brought on by nightmares. She could never remember her nightmares in any detail; only the odd detail remained when she woke up: a flash of fangs, a daffodil, a hot breathing on the back of her neck or a locked door at the end of a corridor. The latest one had involved a pair of dentures with vampire fangs.

Luckily it was a Saturday so she didn't have to do anything all afternoon. She had the play in the evening so she had to go to dinner at 5:30, but other than that: nothing.

The dorm was empty when she arrived and she fell asleep as soon as she collapsed onto her bed.

_When she opened her eyes she was lying in a field of tall grass dotted with sunflowers, trees and other plant-life. She stood up slowly and looked around; everything seemed to be perfectly normal although Lillie still felt uneasy for some reason. She spun on the spot, examining her surroundings; the field seemed to go on for ever in every direction._

_Her gaze was drawn to her left where she could see a plume of smoke rising above the levels of the field. She walked towards it and her feet made an unusual sound which was like a roar in the complete silence of this place. Silence? What about the insects and animals? Where were the bees, the grasshoppers, the birds? The smoke on the horizon already seemed much closer; she must have been walking for longer than she realised._

_Why did her feet make that odd sound? She bent down to examine the nearest sunflower, only it wasn't a sunflower, it was coloured paper that had been made to look like a sunflower. Everything here was made out of paper._

_But then how was the smoke moving? Swirling gently and moving closer. 'Hold on, if this is paper then fire will spread like… well like wildfire!'_

The dormitory door opened loudly and Jenny and Isa came in chatting merrily waking Lillie up as they did. "Oh, no! Sorry, Lillie," Isa said.

"Did we wake you up?" Jenny said.

"Yeah, but you chose a good time to wake me up," Lillie said rubbing her hands over her bed sheets; firstly to wipe off sweat and secondly to check that they weren't made out of paper.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Jenny asked sympathetically.

"It was about to become one," Lille assured her.

"What was it about?" Isa asked curiously.

"I can't really remember much," Lillie answered truthfully. "There was a paper sunflower."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Isa said encouragingly.

"It wasn't at first, but something must have happened," Lillie smiled gratefully. "What's the time?"

"About 4:30," Jenny told her.

"I'd better get some work done," Lillie said, swinging her legs off of her bed.

"We were about to start our DADA if you want to join us," Jenny offered.

"Sure. Thanks, Jen," Lillie said and rummaged around for her Defence things.

They spent the next fifty minutes doing Professor Thomas' essay on barrier spells. Lillie had just finished her conclusion when she realised she had to go to dinner.

"We're coming tonight," Jenny told her. "No pressure."

Lillie laughed gently, "Thanks, I hope you enjoy it." Then she left the dorm and headed back down to the Great Hall.

She was one of the first to arrive and sat down next to Thomas Hart who had already arrived and was looking slightly green. "Hey, Tom, what's up?" Lillie asked.

"The WADA representative is coming tonight," he answered.

"This is for your drama scholarship isn't it?" He nodded but didn't say anything. "You'll be fine, don't worry. Ask anyone, you are the best actor in this place."

"Except you," he said.

"I wish," Lillie said.

"Anyway, they're only offering four scholarship places this year."

"And one of them has Thomas Griftus Hart written on it," Lille said earnestly. He chuckled when she mentioned his middle name. "If you perform half as well as you have for the past five nights then you'll get in, no problem."

"Thanks," he said putting one arm around her and giving her a one-armed hug. He didn't take his arm away, but Lillie didn't really notice because food had just arrived and due to her early exit from lunch she was feeling hungry.

More people arrived and sat around them and soon there was a lot of noise in the air and they were all eating; Tom only used one arm because the other one was still on Lillie only now it had dropped to her waist.

She'd never noticed how nice he smelled before. She glanced at him; had he at a haircut? He needed to shave; a little bit of puppy-fluff had sprouted on his upper lip and by his ears. He turned and caught her looking at him; she immediately looked away blushing furiously but he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Soon they were all filing out of the Great Hall and Tom was taking his time and because he had attached himself to Lillie it meant that she had to slow down too. Soon they were at the back of the group and only then did he speak again and what he said completely took Lillie by surprise. "Would you want to go out with me?"

Lillie tried not to choke. She needed time to think! "Aren't you a bit old?" she asked, trying to buy some time.

"I'm only a year older than you."

"But you're in fifth year and I'm in third year," Lillie said, thoroughly confused.

"I was moved up a year, I'm only fourteen; turning fifteen next term." They had reached the dressing rooms. "You don't have to answer now. You can have the entire Easter holiday if you want." He gave her one of his classic winks then as they went their separate ways.

** Author's Note:**

**I am so sorry. Basically my school is really hectic and I have had no time to write. LITERALLY NONE! I had to stay up till 3 o'clock writing this because I felt so bad. It's a really expensive school too so I'm doing loads of extra-curricular activities to make it worth it. As well as regular A-levels, I also have extra language and drama lessons as well as three music lessons, and I'm in a choir and a play. So basically it's going to be slow going for a while. Just in case I don't update before then, Merry Christmas! Although hopefully I will be able to J**


	29. A Lesson in Quidditch

Silver Lining

Chapter 28: A Lesson in Quidditch

Surprisingly, it didn't take Lillie long to make up her mind about Thomas' offer. She had decided earlier that year that she was too young and she decided to stick with that. So when the play ended, she saw him chatting with a group of other fifth years; she was too shy to go and interrupt them, but luckily he caught her eye and came over.

"Hey, well done tonight," he said as he approached.

"Thanks, you were amazing. If you don't get into WADA I'll eat my wand," Lillie answered.

"I'll hold you to that," he warned. His tone suddenly changed and his voice became much quieter, "Have you thought about what I said?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I'm too young. I don't need that kind of relationship yet, maybe in a year or two, but I decided that 13 is far too young, for me at any rate," Lillie said, ensuring to keep her voice steady and composed.

She didn't know what reaction to expect from Thomas; what she didn't expect was for him to smile understandingly and say, "Fair enough, if that's what you think, then I won't pressure you. I would probably have said the same thing at thirteen. Can we still be friends? Or would that be too awkward?"

"I'm up for it," Lillie smiled.

Tom gave her his signature wink and then walked back to his group and Lillie joined Richard and Michael Bilding, the only other third years in the cast. The two Gryffindor boys were tossing a quaffle between them when Lillie reached them.

"Catch!" Richard called to Lillie before throwing the quaffle towards her. Lillie cried and batted the quaffle awayCh as best she could and set it soaring towards Michael who caught it with ease.

"Don't do that!" Lillie said angrily to Richard.

"Sorry," he said, but he was still grinning broadly.

"Have you ever played Quidditch before, Lillie?" Michael asked.

"Apart from the compulsory lessons in the first year, no."

"We should teach her," he said to Richard.

"Definitely," Richard said his grin becoming somehow even broader.

"I disagree," said Lillie.

"You don't have a choice," Richard told her.

"You have all of the Easter Holidays to get ready for it, it'll be fun," said Michael.

"First Wednesday after we get back you are going to fly," Richard announced grandly, earning some strange looks from a couple of fourth years who were passing by.

…

Several weeks later Lillie found herself on the Quidditch pitch holding one of the school's broomsticks, as though it was her only lifeline. Luckily she wasn't the only one that they had roped into this and Gill, Etta and Victoire were standing next to her looking about as nervous as she felt. The boys: Chris and Dan had also volunteered to 'teach' them looked as though they were in for the treat of a lifetime.

"Ladies," Michael said loudly, "mount your sticks!" The boys fell about laughing while the girls merely raised their eyebrows. "I'm sorry," he said after a few seconds. "Please sit on your brooms like so." He and the three others demonstrated what to do and slowly the four girls copied.

It wasn't long before the boys had the girls hovering several metres off the ground – several metres too many as far as Lillie was concerned. The boys flew in circles around them calling out tips. Gill and Lillie were both very uncertain and nervous and their movements were jerky; Victoire seemed to be reasonably confident but Etta seemed to be flying high, figuratively.

In fact it wasn't long before she had joined in with the boys flying around in circles while Gill, Lillie and Vicky looked on in surprise.

Eventually they were all flying slowly around the pitch, except Etta who had been taken to an 'advanced class' by Dan and was now flying through the goal-hoops and was soon joined by Vicky.

A while later they were allowed to dismount; Lillie and Gill were quick to do so and they returned to the castle together. However, Victoire and Etta stayed behind for some more flying with the boys.

"Did you see Dan and Etta?" asked Gill, who was ever the gossip.

"I was busy trying not to fall to my death," Lillie said, relieved to be back on the ground. "What were they doing?"

"Nothing yet, but we'll have to keep an eye on them," she replied.

Lillie burst out laughing at her serious tone of voice but stopped laughing well Gill gave her the evil eyes, but then she broke into a broad smile. "Oh wouldn't it be amazing if they got together?"

"I guess so," Lillie shrugged.

"What about you? Who do you like?"

"You know what I think about that kind of thing."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that we are too young," Gill agreed.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," Lillie said surprised.

"Well, you're not the only one who's grown up, missy," Gill smiled cheekily. "Tell you what, how about we make a pact?"

"A pact?"

"No boyfriends until fifth year," she explained before extending her hand.

"Sounds like a deal," Lillie answered before shaking Gill's outstretched hand.

…

The next day started off with a single period of Drama for Lillie. It was her first lesson since the play, and it was also the lesson when they would find out who, if anyone, had gotten into the school play. According to Professor Bristow, it was usually fifth, sixth and seventh years so no one who auditioned should be disappointed if they didn't get in.

Lillie, however, seemed to be having a long overdue lucky streak. When the entire class was sat down Professor Bristow said, "Congratulations are in order for one of you: Lillie Whitehead you have been given a part in the whole school play. You have to report to the Entrance Hall at 7:30 tonight where you will be given your part."

"What is the play?" Abigail asked.

"I don't actually know, Professor Taylor will tell you all later," he answered.

Several hours, Lillie made her way to the Entrance Hall. When she arrived she found four other people standing there; the only one who Lillie knew was Thomas Hart. Apart from her and Thomas, there was a very tall and well-built seventh year Ravenclaw called Oscar King, as well as being Head Boy he was captain and beater on the Quidditch team, and rumour had it that he had been approached for the England under-19 team. The other two also seemed to be seventh years Lillie recognised the Head Girl, a Hufflepuff who Lillie thought was called Katie, she was a model student, and quite probably a model as well, Lillie didn't recognise the other boy, he wasn't as tall as the other two but still much taller than Lillie, he had jet-black hair and dark skin and very muscled. Lillie's elation at being in the play vanished instantly and was replaced by intimidation.

Thomas spotted her and moved over to join her by the stairs, "Hey," he said quietly, "Did you get in?" Lillie was too nervous to speak so she just nodded. "That's amazing! Well done, Lil'."

"Don't call me that," she whispered making him grin.

"Who are you?" asked Oscar.

"I'm Lillie, Lillie Whitehead," Lillie answered nervously.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was told to come here, for the play," Lillie answered and she was happy to see an impressed look on Oscar's face.

"Do _you_ know anything about what we're doing?" asked the other boy.

"No."

"Where is everyone else?" Tom wondered out loud.

"There is no one else," said a voice to Lillie's right. She looked to her right and saw Professor Taylor standing there.

"This is it?" asked the girl, Lillie thought was called Katie.

"Yes, now have you all met?"

"Yes," said the three seventh years and Tom.

"No," said Lillie.

Professor Taylor looked at the seventh years, "Well introduce yourselves!"

"I'm Kitty Ramsay," said the Head Girl, smiling at her.

"Oscar King," said Oscar.

"Hi, I'm Marux McNaughton," said the other guy stretching out his hand.

"Hi," Lillie said, tentatively shaking his hand. Her confidence was slowly building; they seemed nice enough.

"Professor, what are we actually doing?" Thomas asked.

"We're going for a walk," said Professor Taylor her usually stern smile turning into an enigmatic smile. "Come on, keep up!"

They walked out into the Grounds, the May air was warm and even though the sun was no longer in the sky there was still some light.

"So, Professor Bristow and myself have decided that you are the five best actors in the school by a long way and so over the Easter holidays I wrote a play that I think will suit you. The characters names are the same as your own for simplicity's sake." She went on like this for a while, the play she had written was called _The Clay Basket_

It was about three young children (Oscar, Kitty and Marux) who find a clay basket in the forest, inside of which is a baby girl. It then skips ahead many years; the girl (Lillie) is now in her teens and the three children are now adults. All seems to be fine until a stranger (Thomas) comes knocking claiming to be the girl's brother and he has just managed to escape their parents. The three others take him in but the parents (who are never seen) try to bring Thomas back by bewitching the Oscar, Kitty and Marux. Eventually they discover that Lillie is there too and the parents redouble their efforts. They capture Kitty but Thomas sacrifices himself to get rid of the parents and the play ends with Oscar and Marux taking Lillie to the place where they found her. They find a letter on that ground which says: _I will find you again little sister_ and signed off with a T.

When they returned to the castle, Professor Taylor pulled out five copies of the script and gave them one each. "Learn your lines quickly. We'll meet here every night to rehearse."

"Why here?" Marux asked.

"Because we'll be performing it outside," Professor Taylor answered. "Now get to wherever you have to be." Lillie wandered alone back to the Ravenclaw common room (Oscar had to do Head Boy duties).

…

The play turned out to be far more stressful than Lillie had anticipated: they had rehearsals almost every night because it was such a long play. It took up most of Lillie's summer term and nearly two months later, the five of them were huddled together preparing for the opening night.

It was the last night of the year; they had performed every night that week. Several hundred seats filled the stands that had been placed by the Forbidden Forest where the play would take place. Professor Taylor had told them that they were sold out for every night because tickets had been offered to the general public.

"Alright guys," Oscar said, "we know we can do this; we've done it flawlessly, we can do it again now." There were nods of assent from everyone else in the group. "Okay. Everyone get to your starting positions."

Three hours later the five of them were standing in a line, smiling broadly and taking bows while the audience cheered and applauded. When the people started clearing away a very official woman came over to their group where hugs and high fives were being given all around.

"Mr Hart? Mr McNash?" Tom and Marux turned to face the woman curiously. "I am Yolanda Cranach, I've been sent from WADA to tell you that you have been accepted to attend as of September. From what I have seen tonight your places are well-earned." Then she turned and walked away.

There was a moment of stunned silence and the Lillie, Oscar and Kitty threw themselves at the other two cheering them and giving them bear-hugs.

"Well Lillie, looks like you won't be eating your wand after all," said Tom.

…

The next morning the five of them were standing at Hogsmeade station. The four others turned to look at the castle in the distance. "We're not going to be coming back for a while," said Kitty sadly. Lillie looked at her and saw tears glistening in her cheeks. "You'll be the only coming back here next year, Lillie." She smiled at the younger girl.

"Look after it for us," Oscar reminded her.

"Only if you promise to visit me," Lillie said.

"Of course," he answered.

"We'll come and see every play," Marux assured her.

Tom just stood there smiling sadly, but eventually he said, "It was fun."

"Agreed," said Oscar.

"Absolutely," said Kitty and Lillie and Marux nodded.

They exchanged final hugs and then they boarded the Hogwarts Express together. Lillie ended up sharing a compartment with Teddy, Jeremy, Gill (who she was going to spend the start of the summer with), Victoire and Dominique on the way back to King's Cross.

"It's been a difficult year," said Teddy, "but the best one yet as far as I'm concerned."

"I've only had one year," said Dominique and they all laughed as the train started to move.

The journey on the midnight-blue train was very light-hearted and when they arrived in London, they all said their goodbyes. Lillie went over to the Marlons with Jeremy and Gill, but before she got there, she was intercepted by Teddy.

"Harry wants to talk to you," he said shortly.

"We'll wait," said Gill and Lillie followed Teddy.

"Hello Mr Potter," said Lillie when she reached him.

"Hello Lillie."

"Teddy said that you want to talk to me."

"I do. I'm afraid I have some bad news."

An old tension that Lillie hadn't felt in a while was creeping up on her. "What is it?"

"You're going to have to come to the ministry with me; your grandmother has taken you to court."

**Author's Note:**

**So Lillie's going to court! Why? Who? What? Find out in chapter 29 which I will hopefully have soon (no promises)**

**I know it's not a long chapter, but at least it didn't take two months this time.**

**Thanks to the new followers and I hope more people follow and that some people might review.**

**And also thanks to Facetaker for keeping me writing.**


	30. 5-Minute Court

Silver Lining

Chapter 29: 5-Minute Court

_I'm notorious,  
>I'm an outlaw,<br>I'm the big boss,  
>I'm a gangster on the dance-floor,<br>-The Saturdays_

Lillie stood there in stunned silence for a few seconds. "How is that possible? I'm 13! You want me to go to court and face the woman who tried to get me to sacrifice myself!" she cried.

"You're lucky it's only happening now, the department of magical law enforcement has refused her many times but your aunt is good at finding loopholes in the system," Harry told her. "We're going to have to go by muggle transport as apparating in central London is too risky," he informed her.

Lillie nodded slowly and despairingly and let Harry lead her to wherever he was taking her. All the horrible thoughts and fears that circled around her aunt resurfaced now even more terrifying than ever for having been repressed for so long. She did her best to push them away and was glad to find she succeeded but her relief only lasted for a split-second because then all the other thoughts and memories that she had tried to ignore came flooding back.

The first memories that came back to Lillie all seemed to involve boys: Teddy, Jeremy, Thomas, and even Mr Friend. Lillie thought about each of them in turn and how she felt about them.

Teddy: he was one of Lillie's best friends, he had been her guide and her helper and she would never do anything to risk that; Victoire could have him. As soon as she had accepted this fact the little image of Teddy in her mind vanished.

Jeremy: he was Gill's brother and so off limits, and anyway Lillie had never thought of him romantically apart from that one moment. Jeremy's face also vanished.

Thomas: he was giving her one of his smiles and Lillie's mood brightened considerably. She shook her head - no boys; she had made a pact with Gill. But Thomas didn't vanish but stood there smiling. 'Later?' Lillie asked her mind and then Thomas was gone.

Mr Friend: 'What's he doing here?' Lillie asked herself, she almost felt her mind shrug and George Friend vanished too.

But then more people flooded into her mind: friends, teachers… and some others; anyone who had a significant effect on Lillie's life. Most of them vanished after Lillie had noticed their presence and asked herself why they needed to be there. This didn't work for everyone though, and she was left looking at some friendly faces, as well as some hostile ones. She knew she would have to deal with them; she would have to figure out why they were here and how she could get rid of them.

Meanwhile Harry was guiding her through the busy streets of London.

Lillie's examined the remaining faces: Professor Stokes, Vicky and her mother, Chris and his father, Mindy and Ezekielis Bamforth, Rowena Ravenclaw, Gill and Parvati. Her thoughts turned to the last two first.

Gill and Parvati had always kept her in touch with the real world, and provided a welcome relief when she needed it. The two girls vanished.

Chris' father: he had saved her from that tower and he'd given her the strength to keep going up there. She had never thanked him. He too disappeared.

Fleur: she too had rescued Lillie when she had been locked in her room at the Selwyn Mansion. She too needed to be thanked. Fleur's elegant figure vanished to nothingness.

Mindy: her constant enemy and tormentor. Lillie didn't want to hate her anymore; it took too much effort and it was so childish. Mindy's scowling face disappeared.

Lillie had to brace herself before thinking about Ezekielis: he had tortured her. But she had nothing to be afraid of anymore. She could surely get him done. Ezekielis' twisted face vanished and Lillie felt vindictive pleasure.

Professor Stokes: why was he there? He had never done Lillie wrong; he had only ever looked after her, almost like a father. 'I never realised how much he looks out for me. He's the closest thing to a father that I have now. His face was gone leaving only three.

Vicky: Lillie knew what they had between them and he was called Teddy. 'I don't want him.' Lillie knew that Victoire hadn't made a move on Teddy because she thought that Lillie still had feelings for him. Victoire was gone.

Chris: her constant companion; her co-conspirator; her best friend. He had been with Lillie from the start and she had started taking him for granted. She had neglected him recently with everything that had been going on around her. 'It won't happen again!' she promised herself. Chris vanished.

Ravenclaw: she had imparted some of her wisdom on Lillie; had helped her when she was stuck; had even spoken to her. Lillie had never understood how privileged she was for this to have happened to her.

Ravenclaw disappeared and Lillie thought she glimpsed an approving smile before she did.

Then she heard a whisper, "Choose your own fate." Or at least she thought she did.

Lillie looked around her, the real her, properly for the first time in a long time and saw that they were in a great atrium with a golden statue at the other end.

Lillie heard a screech of tyres in her left ear, heard someone scream and could smell burning but when she looked to her left there was only a shop window filled with food.

She knew this was a memory: the car crash. She hadn't thought about her family's death for several months – at least not while awake – and the memory was about as unwelcome as they came. She tried to rid herself of this large black presence in her mind but it wasn't going away and Lillie knew it wouldn't until she had come to terms with it. She acknowledged the three last people that were in her mind's eye; one by one her mum, her dad and little Milo all floated into view. Only Milo wasn't as little as he had been; he looked three years older. It would have been, should have been his tenth birthday in February.

Milo: 'I'm so sorry I couldn't look after you and that I couldn't see you grow up.'

Mum: 'I'm sorry for being so stubborn. You were right – listening is very helpful. I never apologised because you would always forgive me anyway and now I realise how much I miss that.'

Dad: 'You were always working, but when you weren't you were always in a good mood, laughing and playing with me. I miss you.'

"I love you all," she whispered.

All three of them disappeared leaving Lillie alone. Or so she thought, for then she saw Dulcia come round the corner.

Only that this wasn't in her mind; this was reality. Dulcia Selwyn was walking towards her wearing her most horrible smile.

Normally the sight of her aunt would have made Lillie cower only this time she was prepared; she had no other pressing worries and had finally achieved some form of closure. If Lillie had ever been ready for the yellow smile, the waxy skin, the poker-straight, iron-grey hair and harsh words of Dulcia Selwyn, it was now.

Lillie Whitehead was officially entering badass mode.

Whenever she looked back on that evening Lillie always seemed to remember it as through the eyes of someone else, but the truth was that she knew exactly what she was doing.

It was as though someone had balled up all her anger and all her intelligence and removed the shyness. She had had enough of Dulcia and her conniving and _now_ was the time to stop it.

"Lillie! How are you my little acid pop?" Dulcia said as though she had missed Lillie in their time apart and was so glad to see her again. She hurried over to Lillie and Harry whose hand tightened on Lillie's should, but she shrugged him off. Harry's hands were soon replaced by Dulcia's bony arms. While her face was pressed in Lillie's hair she whispered, "Be careful."

Lillie threw the unwanted arms off of her and looked the woman straight in the eyes, "I might tell you the same thing." Dulcia laughed, or rather cackled. "I think I need the bathroom," Lillie said.

"Of course," Dulcia said, "Right this way." She took Lillie's arm in her own hand.

"Let. Me. Go." Lillie said dangerously and to her surprise she did. "I would much rather Mr Potter showed me the way."

"Come on," Harry said, leading her around the corner. Lillie looked around herself for the first time and saw that they were in a dark corridor lit by flickering torches. There were many doors on her right and very few on their left. They stopped outside one of the doors on the right which had a golden plate with black lettering spelling LADIES.

Lillie darted in and the brightness made her squint. The bathroom turned out to be very nice and she quickly rushed to the mirrors. She made a mental note to thank Victoire and Gill for convincing her to carry make-up with her. She looked in the mirror and started applying a first coat. She knew that Victoire would have been to do a much better job, but she was happy with the results.

She had applied thick mascara and dark eye shadow, and then while that had dried she had covered her lips with vivid red lipstick and added a small coating of white powder. It was simple but it had the desired effect; she looked just about ready to kill and that was exactly what she felt like doing. She suddenly understood why people got into law; she was absolutely terrified of what might happen next, but she was very excited too.

She stepped outside and when Harry saw her he looked very taken aback, which only made Lillie's confidence increase. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Just take me where I need to go," Lillie told him.

"No, Lillie, why have you done that? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to choose my own fate," Lillie answered.

"It's not all that great, believe me, I've done it," Harry told her.

"Well that's my choice," Lillie told him.

"If you won't tell me what you're going to do, at least be careful and if you're ever scared or confused just tell me, okay," Harry said.

"That won't be a problem," Lillie assured him.

"I said '_if'_," Harry reminded her.

"Fine," Lillie agreed.

"Okay," Harry said with a concerned on his face. "Well in that case… Ladies first," he reached for one of the doors on the left. This one was marked with the words 'Courtroom 6'. But she only got a glimpse of this before the door was flung open and a hundred pairs of eyes were on her.

Lillie's earlier confidence took a blow but she was still feeling okay, 'First impressions are a miracle when used well,' Lillie's mum's voice echoed in her mind. So Lillie did what she had done countless time before and put on a smile before walking out into the courtroom with her head held high and her eyes focused directly on the man she assumed was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He was a tall man, with a large belly, a large moustache, a large beard, large glasses and large ears.

She took a deep breath and then said, "Your honour, I would like to know why I am here."

There was murmuring from around the court room. It seemed that they had all expected Lillie to know what was going on. Hopefully she would be able to use that to her advantage.

"Do you mean she doesn't know?" a snide voice from high up to her right remarked.

"Of course she does!" this time it was her aunt's unwelcome voice that spoke. "She's just playing the fool to try and win you onto her side."

"I am not!" Lillie said indignantly. She turned to the judge, "You can use Verita Serum on me if you want to. You can use it for the entire thing if you want. I have nothing to hide," Lillie stated coolly. "I just want to know how someone a 13 year old girl could end up in court and not even know why."

"We are here to discuss the matter of your custody," the chief warlock said.

"Discuss?" Lillie scoffed. "It seems more like a trial."

"That is because the Wizengamot make the final decision," explained the judge in an almost bored voice.

"By that I assume you mean the final decision of whether I live or die," Lillie answered.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Dulcia cried. "It means whether or not you'll come back with me, my acid pop." Her voice was sugar-coated with honey and Lillie suddenly saw past her hatred for her aunt temporarily and saw that she was actually very charismatic.

"And that decision will determine whether or not I die," Lillie said boldly.

"What are you talking about?" the snide person from high up to her right asked.

"Yes, what do you mean?" asked the Chief Warlock.

"I mean that if I go back with that woman I will wind up dead or at least tortured."

"My darling, how could you say that?" Dulcia asked feigning hurt.

"Wait until tomorrow morning and you'll know _exactly_ how I could say that," Lillie said menacingly.

"I think that by midnight tonight, we'd all like to be at home in our own beds," said the snide voice.

"Yes, why midnight?" asked the Chief Warlock; he seemed to Lillie more and more useless.

"Because it's the new moon tonight and I don't have my medication with me so you'll be able to see what that woman and her pal Ezekielis did to me while they had me locked up in that tower."

There was a pause in which the only sound was silence. Not even Dulcia had expected that and she was gaping like a fish which made Lillie smile.

"What's the time?" she asked.

"It's seven-thirty," a voice from Lillie's other side said.

"Well then I'll see you in about four and a half hours," she said. With that she turned and walked out the door that she had come in through.

Once she was outside she breathed in and processed what she had just done. Had she really just so openly talked back to the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot as well as her murderous aunt and openly walked out of the court session halfway through?

Had she really sentenced herself to a night of torturous pain? She knew that her methods would be effective, but she didn't even want to know what it would do to her. She already knew of course, but she tried not to think about that. It _would_ be effective she promised herself, but she doubted whether it would be in the right way. She didn't know what stories Dulcia had told.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the courtroom door opened and Harry came out looking extremely distressed. "What was that about?" he asked angrily.

"I don't know!" Lillie said. "I couldn't control myself it just all spilled out before I could stop it," she admitted earnestly.

"Well, they've decided to wait until midnight," he informed her.

Lillie was surprised that they were so willing to do this. She then realised it was probably because most of them thought nothing would happen and that Lillie was merely crazy. The concerned look on Harry's face told her that he did not doubt her story and that he believed something would happen overnight.

"And now we wait," he said.

"And now we wait," Lillie agreed.

"I remember saying those exact words to Hermione when we were in our third year," Harry reminisced.

"What were you waiting for?" Lillie asked him.

"Ourselves to come out of the Whomping Willow with a serial killer, a double agent, a werewolf, an escapee and Ron."

"Why?" Lillie asked, but then quickly amended her question to, "How?"

"Time-travel," Harry told her. "Messy business; don't get mixed up in it, if you can avoid it," he warned.

"Noted. So why were you waiting for that choice selection of people?"

"Well the escapee, was my godfather and he was actually innocent – he'd been convicted for the crimes committed by the serial killer – the werewolf was my favourite teacher, the double agent was my least favourite teacher. Although it turns out that he was actually on our side all along, and Ron had been bitten in the leg," he paused and looked at the completely confused face that Lillie was showing him.

"Long story?" Lillie asked.

"Very," he assured her.

"We've got a while," Lillie reminded him.

The story of Harry's third year took them to roughly midnight and by that time Lillie was feeling tired and surprisingly relaxed despite her imminent pain.

"Is there anywhere around here we can sleep?" Lillie asked.

"This is the Ministry of Magic; there is pretty much anything you could want and a whole lot of stuff you wouldn't," Harry told her before leading her down the corridor and opening a door to their right.

There was a bed with creamy white bed-sheets and peach coloured walls. In the corner there was a toilet and a sink equipped with hairbrush, make-up, toothbrush, toothpaste and so on and so forth.

This was the first station Lillie visited and she immediately scrubbed the make-up off, which looked ridiculous to her now, although she knew it had played its part. With the mask gone, Lillie could see that she looked tired and ill and after quickly brushing her teeth went to bed and drifted off almost immediately.

…

She was woken up by a searing pain that originated in the region of her left ankle. She was instantly wide awake and staggering to the door. She wanted to be in the open while it happened; because she couldn't put much weight on her left leg she had to hop to the door which distinctly slowed the process. By the time she reached the door, pain had appeared on her right arm and some on her chin too.

When she reached the door, she found it locked. She couldn't restrain herself anymore and before she knew it she was screaming to try and release the tension in her body – not that it did anything. She heard footsteps on the other side of the door.

"Lillie?" called Harry's voice.

"The door's locked!" she cried. Some still sane part of her mind reminded that last time this had happened the door had locked as well.

"Where's the key?" he asked.

"Key?" Lillie cried, even in her current state she was dumbfounded by this. "Use your wand!"

"Stand back!" Harry warned and Lillie fell away from the door. The door burst open and Lillie saw Harry rush in; there were several people gathered in the corridor behind him.

The last think that Lillie registered before unconsciousness engulfed her was a distant cry of, "Someone get a healer; the poor girl's been attacked!"

…

When Lillie woke up again she was in a hospital bed; it seemed to be becoming a habit of hers. It seemed to be quite dark so she assumed it was night and she began to wonder if it was the same day. She decided that this was highly unlikely and that the best thing to do would be to fall asleep which she promptly did.

When she woke up again, it was light, but it was a dim light so she wasn't blinded. This time she woke up properly and realised how dry her throat was she looked to both sides and saw that there was a large glass and a jug of water on the small table next to her bed.

When she had drunk her fill she decided to call out, "Hello?"

There was no response but she didn't worry, the healers were probably busy with other patients.

Eventually she was able to hear movement nearby and then a door closed very close at hand. She called out again and this time there was a response; a healer opened the door to her room and poked his head in. "You've woken up," he said sounding bored. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright, I guess," Lillie said.

"Okay, I'll get an intern to come and deal with you and I'll notify your aunt," he said.

"Notify my aunt?" Lillie cried.

"Of course," he said before leaving.

Not soon thereafter there was another knock at the door and Lillie's heart started beating harder; the first time she had met Dulcia was in a hospital. "Who is it?" she asked tentatively.

"The intern," answered an oddly familiar male voice and Lillie relaxed.

"Come in," Lillie said settling back into her bed.

The door opened and the intern came in; when she saw his face Lillie had to do a double take. The medical intern was Toby Rasbash: the boy with whom she had visited the Chamber of Ravenclaw.

"Good morning, Lillie," he said with a slight smile. "Long time, no see, how have you been?" he asked.

"Well I've gotten to know the layout of hospitals very well," she said trying to ignore the biting feeling in her stomach; she wasn't sure whether this was due to hunger or the prospect of Dulcia.

"So I've heard," he said. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to test you."

Lillie lapsed into silence while Toby moved around her, taking various notes, withdrawing blood samples as well as some saliva. The silence was awful and Lillie would have preferred the awkward conversation that she would have had with Toby.

"Do you have anyone coming to see you?" he asked.

"The healer that was just in here said that he was going to fetch my aunt," Lillie told him.

"That's nice," he said absent-mindedly.

"No it's not. She was the one who got me in here," Lillie said, slightly offended.

"Then why is he getting her?" he asked, bemused.

"That's exactly what I'm wondering," she said, her panic levels slightly too high for her comfort.

Toby opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again, and shot off out of the door. A few minutes later another unexpected guest appeared at the door. It was Harry.

"How are you? Teddy's worried sick."

"I'm fine," Lillie said quickly and then a little more slowly. "What happened? Did anything happen to Dulcia or anyone?"

"Ezekielis was convicted but Dulcia wasn't," he told her quickly. "She managed to convince enough people that Ezekielis had had her under the imperious curse." Lillie's heart stopped for several seconds.

"Please tell me there's _some_ good news," she pleaded.

"There is actually," he said.

"There is?"

"There is."

"What is it?"

"You get to choose whether or not Dulcia gets custody over you," Harry said.

"Of course not!" she replied.

"Well, you're just going to have to repeat that in front of her and some representatives from the Wizengamot."

"I can do that."

"What can you do, my little acid pop?"

Lillie had no need or desire to look towards the doorway to know who was speaking, but she did anyway and she looked her aunt directly in the eye. "I can say that I do not want you to be my guardian. If it was up to me you'd be locked up, but it isn't so I'm doing this instead."

"What?" her aunt cried.

"Are you sure," asked one of the people her aunt was with; Lillie assumed it was one of the representatives. "She is your last living relative."

"Absolutely sure," Lillie said. "I never want to spend another minute with that woman. I want a home, not a prison to go back to."

About an hour later, Lillie had done all she needed to do, and was sitting reading the Daily Prophet. A small smile came to her face when she saw the headline: _Teenage Girl Surprises the Wizengamot_.

When Harry came back, she asked him, "Where do I go now?"

"I think you're going to be adopted by a family," Harry told her.

…

Adoption – that was a pretty big responsibility and with her history Lillie didn't expect a lot of volunteers so she was surprised when three days later she was told that a couple had already volunteered and filled out all the necessary paperwork. They already had two sons: one was a couple of years older than Lillie and the other was about six years older and they lived just outside Edinburgh.

She was scheduled to meet them that afternoon and Lillie was in nervous anticipation. She had been staying in a small orphanage in Diagon Alley called _Catania Centre for Orphans _with several other magical kids, but most of them were less than seven years old.

They had given her a room to herself; it wasn't particularly big, but it was a place to call her own. The walls were covered in blue and beige wallpaper and the bed was small, but comfortable.

She was sitting up in her room when Sheila, the matron, came in and told her that they were waiting downstairs for her. She slowly picked herself up off her bed and went to the mirror to check that she looked presentable. When she was satisfied that she looked fine, she slowly headed out of her small room and made her way gradually downstairs.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw Sheila with a couple who looked to be in their early fifties. The woman was elegant, with white-streaked golden hair that framed her pleasant-looking face. Her husband had blonde curly hair which was cut quite short; he was very tall and looked to be well-built. Lillie had the impression that she had seen them before.

"Hello Lillie," he said with a slight Manchester accent. "I'm Phillip and this is my wife Gwendolyn."

"It's nice to meet you," said Lillie, unsure of how polite to be.

As though she could read her mind, Gwendolyn said, "Please, call us Lyn and Phil. If you decided to come with us, I want you to treat us as friends because we obviously can't replace your actual parents."

"Thanks," Lillie said, saddened by the thought of her parents.

"Our sons, Tommy and Arthur, are at home; we thought you might like come to see it," Phillip said.

"That sounds good," Lillie said, trying to sound more enthusiastic than nervous. Even though she barely knew them she liked this couple, they had an open and friendly disposition.

"We've been told you're not a great fan of the floo network so we've arranged a portkey," said Phil.

Lillie smiled; these guys just got better. "Thanks a lot," she beamed. She followed them into a separate room and they asked her about her favourite colour (a golden-green – the colour of Milo's eyes), favourite food (beef risotto), her school-life, what kind of room she would like and other such questions.

The sensation of the portkey was not a pleasant one, but at least it meant that she didn't have to travel by floo, which always brought up traumatic memories. When she landed her knees gave way and she fell to the floor with the large handbag that had been their portkey.

"Here," a voice said and a large hand appeared in front of her. It's owner was a young man of about twenty. Lillie grasped the hand and was pulled to her feet as though she weighed nothing. "I'm Arthur," said the man.

"I'm Lillie." Arthur wasn't particularly tall but he was obviously very strong, he had straight blonde hair and his mother's good-natured face, although he had the same blue eyes as his father.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Lillie. I think you've met my brother, Tommy," he said gesturing to the doorway.

Leaning in the doorway was a sixteen year old boy with curly golden-blonde hair, golden-green eyes (precisely the same as her brother's), and a very characteristic smile: Tom Hart.

"Hey Lil', welcome to the Hart household, provided you're willing," he said, still grinning broadly.

"Of course," Lillie said without hesitation: she couldn't quite believe what was going on around her.

Tom stood up straight and went over to go give Lillie a tight hug. "Hello, little sister."

"Hello," she said in a stunned voice.

"The moment he found out about you Tommy insisted that we try and adopt you," Lyn said happily, leaning her head on Phil's shoulder.

Lillie didn't know what to say; it seemed her vocal cords had stopped working and all that came out of her mouth was a choking cough.

"I've always wanted a sister," Arthur said. "If anyone ever does anything to hurt you, you tell me and I'll take care of you." Lillie looked in his direction and felt a smile spread across her face.

"We got your trunk from the Marlons," said Lyn. "It's in the hall, Arthur, Tommy, if you two want to help her take it up to her room."

"You are going to stay, aren't you," Phil checked and Lillie nodded vigorously. "Well, we'd better go and finish off business at the orphanage. We're really glad you're going to be joining us, Lillie. We'll be back in a minute." He smiled kindly at Lillie.

"Thank you!" Lillie said, tears starting to spill over her eyes. "Thank you so much."

"It's okay, sweetie," Lyn said and Lillie could see some tears glistening in her eyes as well and felt for the first time in three years that she had somewhere to belong.

**Author's note:**

**What a chapter! I had so much fun writing this. I think it's one of the longest chapters I've done and it deserved to be. It was pretty packed. What do you think of Lillie's plight?**

**I really wanted Lillie to have a badass bit at one point and so it came up here. And zheeba89 pointed out that I need to get Lillie's feelings and emotions sorted and I finally managed to get that done as well.**

**And also, I would like to say hello to AiyalaHollyTree (I think that's how it's spelt) who is a good friend of mine (in real life) who has just joined fanfiction and I recommend that you all go and read her story.**

**I don't know when chapter 30 (A New Home) will be up, but I swear it will be as soon as I can.**

**Please review!**

**WTCST**


	31. A New Home

Silver Lining

Chapter 30 (OMGOMG): A New Home?

Lillie had never struggled to adapt to new places because her parents had moved around so much. Even after all this time the thought of her parents saddened her but she hoped that living with the Harts had partially filled the hole inside her.

This proved to be more than true; her first summer in the Harts had been interesting to the say the least, but unlike what had happened before it was good and enjoyable too.

At first Lillie had been nervous around Phil, Lyn and Arthur but their open and friendly dispositions and with help from Tom she settled in even better than she could have hoped.

It turned out that Lyn was a research potioneer at St Mungo's and she had actually invented some of the medications that Lillie had had to take after she had been imprisoned in the tower. She had also come up with several other important potions and was a very renowned witch in the professional world.

Phil on the other hand was a journalist working for the largest wizarding newspaper in the USA as their UK and Ireland correspondent.

Arthur who had left Hogwarts a couple of years earlier wanted to become a field zoologist was trying to get his final qualifications and if he was successful he would be qualified by November.

The Harts lived in a large house overlooking the sea in a small town called North Berwick which wasn't far outside of Edinburgh and so when August arrived Tom took Lillie to the Edinburgh festival.

Lillie had been to the festival once before when she was younger and she had thought it was the most magical thing that she had ever done and she discovered then that this was because a lot of the festival actually was magical. Tom and Lillie went every day for about two weeks and saw at least three shows every day, including a production of Romeo and Juliet put on by the Trombone theatre company, who turned out to be a wizarding troupe from South Ossetia.

"I thought ours was better, personally," Tom said.

"Definitely," agreed Lillie.

One of the highlights had been a day when they were in Edinburgh and Lillie bumped into someone she hadn't seen for several years. A large, very ginger and very Scottish woman called Karen. Karen had been good friends with Lillie's parents for years; they had all been at university tonight and whenever they went to Scotland they would stay at her big and comfortable house. Lillie and Karen had spent an entire afternoon talking about everything; Karen had thought that Lillie was dead along with her parents. Lillie had had to make up an entire life story about how she was sent to live in an orphanage for two years but then one day the Harts had appeared like a bolt from the blue and brought her to live with them in their house in Aberystwyth. She didn't want to say that they actually lived about half an hour away in case that Karen came looking for her one day.

Tom on the other hand had not been so happy about the meeting with Karen because it meant that they had to miss one of the shows that they were supposed to be seeing that day.

…

Lillie's fourth year was a lot like Lillie's second year. She didn't think she'd ever been as happy as she was during her fourth year – nothing went wrong. Well at least not seriously wrong. Everyone was very interested about how Lillie felt about being adopted and no one believed her when she told them she was overjoyed about it.

In the summer term, OWLs arrived and all the fifth years seemed to melt, especially in Ravenclaw – the brainy house. Meanwhile the fourth years were dreading the prospect of having to sit the exams for themselves the following year.

…

After more than a year of living with them Lillie still referred to her new 'parents' as Phil and Lyn, but she was as comfortable and open around them as she could have been around any adult and they treated her just as they did their own children: punishing and rewarding her when she deserved it. And as for Tom and Arthur, she knew she was as close with them as she would have been with Milo. She had spent a lot of time with Tom because the Hogwarts coincided with the WADA ones and she and Arthur were always sending each other letters.

This September Milo would have been starting secondary school; the thought of him in a school uniform made her smile, but then she remembered that that wouldn't happen. He would never go to school again. "That's lucky, he hated school," she said to herself, which cheered her up slightly.

"Who hated school?" asked the deep and comforting voice of Arthur Hart.

"Hey Arthur," Lillie said as the young man came and sat next to her on the comfortable cream-coloured sofa. "I was just thinking about my little brother. He would have been starting secondary school soon."

"Secondary school? Wouldn't he have gone to Hogwarts?" Arthur asked.

"I don't think he had any magic; he never had any 'accidents'," Lillie explained with a wry smile.

Arthur put one arm comfortingly around her shoulders. "Well at least he didn't have to go; he hated school," he said.

"That's what I said."

"I know; I was right here." Lillie made a slight noise of appreciation. "So how come you were thinking about them?" he asked kindly, but curiously nevertheless, Lillie hadn't spoken about her real family much.

"Five years ago today was…" Lillie trailed off.

"Oh right," he said, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze. Suddenly he jumped up grinning. "I know something that might cheer you up." He took her hand and pulled her off the sofa and out of the sitting room and led her upstairs until they were standing outside of his room. "Okay, stay here, for a sec," he told her before going into his room.

He emerged a few minutes later from his room, holding a small package that was wrapped in pale blue tissue-paper, which smelled faintly of lavender. "Oh Arthur, you didn't have to do that!" Lillie cried throwing her arms around him.

"I know it's not your birthday until next week but I have to go back to work in an hour anyway and you seem to need a present today," he said. "Go on, open it!"

Lillie delicately unwrapped the packaging trying not to rip the tissue-paper but after about 3 seconds a tear appeared and she just tore the rest off unceremoniously. Lillie was left with two things in her hands: the first was a photo of Tom, Arthur, Lillie, Lyn and Phil at Christmas; the second was a small pendant consisted of a small sapphire with a delicate silver lining as though the stone was suspended in a small and bright mesh.

"Oh Arthur it's beautiful!" she cried giving him another hug.

"I thought you'd like it," Arthur grinned.

"I _love_ it," she said earnestly.

A door further down the corridor opened and Tom emerged in his pyjamas. He had clearly just gotten out of bed. "What's all the noise about?"

"Never mind, Tom," Lillie said.

"Go back to bed," Arthur told him.

Tom shrugged, "I'm up now," he headed into the bathroom and a second later they could hear water running for a bath.

"How was he still in bed? It's midday!"

"For a seventeen year old boy, that's nothing," Arthur told her.

"When are you leaving for work?" Lillie asked as they headed back downstairs.

"Soon," he sighed.

"Where are they sending you this time?"

"Nicaragua, which should be exciting." Because Arthur was now a fully qualified field zoologist, he was always going to interesting places and working with exciting animals: magical and non-magical.

"Why?"

"There's a tricorn rescue centre set up as the west coast of Nicaragua is the only place they're found."

"Tricorn? Do those even exist?"

"Yes, but they're not what you think. They're not as big as unicorns or bicorns, in fact they're about three inches long and live inside trees. They have claws instead of hooves and their three horns are in a line up their nose and are used for burrowing holes in the bark. But the problem is they're all dead or dying," he explained.

"They sound pretty cool," Lillie said.

"They _are_ very cool. The only trouble is there are only about a hundred of them left. Muggles need to stop cutting down so many trees," he complained. "I'm going over to help raise awareness for tricorns among the wizarding population and to the muggles I'm going to have to talk about wood frogs or something like that. And then I'm going to save me some tricorns."

Lillie knew that Arthur could talk for hours on this kind of stuff and even though she would normally have been very interested they didn't have that come and knowing Arthur he hadn't gotten ready. "Have you packed?" she asked.

"It's next on my list," he said dodging her bullet.

"Do you want me to help you pack?"

"No it's fine, I'm nearly 21, I know had to pack a suitcase."

"That's news to me."

"Oi, watch it," he warned jokingly, she rolled her eyes and entered into the kitchen where she saw a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the table next to Phillip's dirty cereal bowl.

She sighed and put the cereal bowl in the sink and quickly scrubbed it clean. She then picked up the newspaper and headed out into the garden overlooking the North Sea and set herself on the deck chair. The front page was taken up with a large photo of Ereniah Liss, who had just been elected the new Minister of Magic and the youngest ever at the age of 31.

She looked at the contents column and skipped through it:  
><em>Exclusive Interview with Ereniah: P1-2<br>Reaction to the Election: P3-6  
>Manley Duncan, the Loser's Perspective: P7-8<br>First Act - Educational Reform: P9_

At this point she stopped and skipped to page 9 her interests piqued.

_The new Minister Ereniah Liss has decreed that her first act as Minister will be a major reform on education the exact details of which have not been released. "All, I will tell you is that we are replacing O.W.L.s as of now!" Liss said in her recent press conference. We have been told that the full decree will be released at some point over the next four days. Ordinary Wizarding Levels, also known as O.W.L.s or simply Owls are widely spread throughout British wizarding schools, such as Hogwarts, Carington's Academy, the Londonderry Warlock Academy and the Findhorn Witches' Institute. Early estimates are that internal examinations will be held, similar to the way the system is run in the Hampshire Independent School of Magic._

The article went on to describe what might have caused this unexpected move from the government, but this didn't interest Lillie and she soon stopped reading and returned to the kitchen.

She contemplated what effects this would have until Tom entered the room newly dressed and washed. "Morning," he yawned widely.

"Good afternoon," Lillie answered back.

"It's not afternoon until I've had lunch," he said stubbornly making Lillie laugh.

"What about breakfast?"

"It's too late for breakfast," he told her in a 'how are you so stupid?' tone.

"Obviously," Lillie agreed sarcastically. "Well both Phil and Lyn are at work, so looks like I'm making lunch," she said wearily. "Pasta with meatballs it is."

"Is that it?" Tom asked.

"Well unless you're willing to cook yes it is. Or do you want to have one of Arthur's crazy African meals?" Lillie asked.

"No thanks," he said wrinkling his nose.

15 minutes later the three of them were crammed around the small kitchen table with a bowl of pasta and meatballs in front of them, Arthur's suitcase sitting by the door and the dog looking hopefully up at them.

The dog was a blonde Labrador called Milky and he was the friendliest and most playful animal in the world. Lillie had a theory that if he ever chased and caught an animal he would then let it go and run off in the opposite direction expecting to be chased in return, as though it were a game.

The first time Lillie had seen Milky was when Arthur and Tom had taken her up to her room for the first time. When they had reached her room the door had been ajar and when they entered Milky had been standing on her bed his tail wagging like crazy his tongue hanging out slightly from his mouth.

When Lillie looked back at her first summer in North Berwick she couldn't help but smile, for the first time, she had had somewhere to call home and a family to fall back on. She knew that she would never be able to repay Tom for asking for this, or Lyn and Phil for listening to him.

…

The next morning Lillie and (amazingly considering it was morning) Tom were sitting at the same table but Arthur had been replaced by Phil, who didn't have to go to work because it was Saturday. The dog was happily munching and some dog food that Lyn had just poured into his bowl and Lyn herself was spreading a thick coat of butter on her toast.

There was a tap at the window and the group saw a small screech owl perched on the sill outside the house. Phil got up and opened the window and the bird flew in and dropped a letter perfectly on top of Lillie's scrambled eggs. Lillie recognised the Hogwarts letter and picked up the envelope, brushing off bits of egg; the letter seemed to be thicker and heavier than usual.

She opened the envelope and pulled out two pieces of parchment. The first was the usual reminder that term began on the 1st Monday of September and the other the list of necessary books and equipment which seemed to be no longer than usual.

She scrunched the envelope up into a ball; or at least she tried because there was still something inside it. She unfolded it and something small and metal fell out onto the table. It was a small badge.

Lillie couldn't quite believe it; she was a prefect. She examined the badge – her badge – more closely. The blue and bronze of Ravenclaw were visible behind a large black **P**.

"Well done, Lillie!" Lyn congratulated.

"Nice one!" Thomas cried.

"At last we have a prefect in the family," it was Phillip's comment that made Lillie feel best.

"We'll get you a reward when we go to Diagon Alley next Saturday," Lyn told her. "What do you want?"

Lillie was still too shocked to answer so she didn't.

"We'll figure something out," said Tom. "In the meantime we need to go into Edinburgh to celebrate!"

"Tom! She's not of age!" Lyn reprimanded.

"Nothing but butterbeer, I swear," Tom promised pulling his most sincere and innocent face.

"Fine, but you have to take the train in," his mother answered.

"You've got yourself a deal. Lillie, when do you want to leave?"

"I…" she trailed off.

Tom rolled his eyes. "How does six o'clock sound?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," said Lillie finding her voice at last.

…

Precisely one week later the four of them were standing in Diagon Alley. Both Lillie and Tom had made plans to meet people in Diagon Alley and were very excited about seeing their friends again.

"Okay, Lillie, honey, you give me your list, Tom give yours to your mother, and we will get your stuff. You two go meet your friends and have fun. Reconvene outside Flourish and Blott's at seven for dinner and we'll give you your reward then," ordered Phil, the leader of the group. He then opened his pocket and gave each of them several gold coins. "That's for anything that we might forget," he winked at them in a way which reminded Lillie infinitely of Tom.

Lillie hugged Phil and Lyn before heading off up the street, weaving her way between busy shoppers until she found herself outside the apothecary.

She looked around and saw Teddy leaning on the corner that led off down an alley that Lillie had never seen before. "Teddy!" Lillie cried, bounding over to join him.

His hair was jet black and when he looked at Lillie he didn't show any sign of happiness and his eyes were the same colour as his hair. Lillie faltered; unnerved by the look Teddy was giving her. "What do you want?" he asked aggressively.

"Teddy, what's wrong? What's happened?" Lillie asked

"Nothing," Teddy said lightly and his hair turned light brown and his eyes became green. "I just learned to control my metamorphmagy completely," he said happily.

"That's great!" Lillie said relieved from her temporary panic.

"It should make becoming an auror easier at any rate," he said.

"Are you sure that's what you want to do now? Weren't you considering doing research work in the States?"

"I was. But now I'm sure I want to become an auror," Teddy said.

"You have to pass your NEWTs first."

"And you have to worry about OWLs yourself."

"No, I don't," Lillie reminded him, "they've changed the system remember?"

"Oh yeah. What have they changed it to?"

"HORSEs: Higher Order Real Sorcery Examinations."

"HORSEs? Seriously? Is it even any different?"

"It's a fully practical exam," Lillie explained. "So anyway, how was your holiday? How was Aruba?"

"Hot, I didn't like it," Teddy said grumpily.

"You're complaining about it being too hot? I'd switch it for the Scottish seaside any day," Lillie said. "But what did you do?"

"Lounged around on beaches mostly; it was pretty relaxed. We went diving in our last week, which was a lot of fun."

"As in scuba diving?"

"What's _scuba_ diving?"

"You know with the oxygen tanks," Lillie pressed.

"We're wizards Lillie; we don't need tanks. We can use magic," Teddy explained very slowly as though speaking to a small child.

Lillie shrugged, "Old habits die hard."

Before either one of them could say anything more, Vicky had appeared beside them and she was as hyperactive as she always was when shopping was involved. She dragged Lillie and Teddy into all sorts shops that Lillie didn't even know existed all the while maintain a constant stream of conversation which had no fixed topic: "I saw this woman in Flourish and Blott's wearing this really nice gold necklace and I assumed that it had to come from Fiona's Tiaras and Other Assorted Jewellery. Oh and did you know that Fiona Hornby, in the year above, has started dating Zak Anderson in the third year. That's just so wrong she's three years older than him, imagine going out with a sixth year at that age! He's actually really sweet and it turns out his mother and my mother were at Beauxbatons together. You know Professor Lugitte, the Charms teacher has gone back there, which means that there's going to be two new Charms teachers because old Flitwick has finally retired. He's 178 years old would you believe! That means there's going to be a new head of Ravenclaw – probably that American Transfiguration teacher. Gill told me that she was going to America this summer; I was so jealous! I mean have you seen how cheap everything is there? Although cheap isn't always good. Cheap things are often really and tacky and fall apart really easily. My grandma's, Molly, house has fallen apart recently. It was never very stable but I never expected the Burrow to disappear anytime soon. It was such a happy house – everyone who I have ever seen there has been happy. They should take ill people there, I'm sure it would make them feel better. I'm feeling a bit peckish; we should go to Florean Fortescue's. Oh no! I went there yesterday, I heard there's a new café just opened up by Fred and George's shop. Actually come to think about it, I haven't spoken to them in a while. We could _all_ go to the café together! That's a nice skirt. Actually, on second thoughts, it clashes with my eyes and anyway Parvati already has the same one, although hers is orange. You know her mother and aunt have written another book. I read it over the summer it's really good, although it's very different to their last one: much more thought-provoking. Hey is that Chris and Richard? Let's go say hi. Where did Teddy go?"

Sure enough the Timberlake twins were sitting at the new café (which was imaginatively called the new café). As for Teddy, he had managed to slip away, around when Vicky was talking about Professor Flitwick.

The Timberlake twins had had an uneventful holiday and so Vicky started talking again. How could she come up with so many words? They wandered up and down Hogsmeade meeting various people at various points. Vicky kept picking people up and then they would slip away.

Lillie managed to slip away twice: the first was in Twilfit and Tatting's but Vicky picked her up again while she was headed up to Gringotts, she had lost the Timberlake twins but she had found Etta along the way and both of them always seemed to be talking at the same time. It was like having two Vickies. The second time was when Vicky, Dan and Anora (a girl in Gryffindor) turned into a narrow alley when Lillie wasn't paying attention.

She looked to her left and saw a shop window full of clocks and she realised that it was quarter to seven, and so she needed to make her way back to Flourish and Blott's. If she was at the clock shop then that meant… hold on. She had never seen a clock shop before. She didn't even know there was one in Diagon Alley.

She looked around her; she didn't think that she was on Diagon Alley anymore. The shops were smaller and dingier, the street was much narrower and there was a horrible smell of rotten frogspawn mixed with stale sweat. Lillie wrinkled her nose and she tried to look for a way out.

She was on the point of deciding to turn around when she saw a familiar face on a street corner. Well the face itself wasn't familiar but she knew Teddy Lupin when she saw him.

Relieved she moved through the crowd towards him. He was talking to a very stocky person with salt and pepper hair, black eyes and sun-bronzed skin. They seemed to be very deep in conversation so Lillie decided not to disturb them so she leaned against the wall a few feet away.

"You're sure this is what you want?" the man was saying – he had a thick Irish accent which took Lillie by surprise.

"Absolutely," Teddy answered, and the sound of his voice made Lillie certain that it was Teddy and not someone else. "Can you do it tonight?" Lillie's interest was aroused.

"So soon? I suppose I could yes. You do realise that being a werewolf s different to what you were before?" Lillie had to use all of her self-control not to gasp. Was Teddy trying to become a werewolf again?

"Of course, but it's better than what I am now," Teddy said.

"If you say so," the man answered.

"We'll meet here at midnight and I can bite you then. I'll take wolfsbane beforehand so that I can control myself."

Lillie decided she didn't want to hear anymore and started walking back in the direction that she had come.

A few seconds later a voice behind her called, "Lillie?"

She turned around and saw Teddy standing behind her looking once again like his usual self. "Teddy!" Lillie cried, half-faking happiness. "I've been wandering around for ages, I'm completely lost! I need to get to Flourish and Blott's in ten minutes."

"Calm down, Lillie. I'll show you the way," he reassured her and Lillie nodded gratefully. "How did you get here anyway?"

"I was with Victoire but I lost her and then I tried to find my way back and I couldn't," Lillie explained. "Where is 'here'?"

"Oh, this is Uripedia Lane. It's a little dodgy, but there is the nicest sweet shop at the end of the road."

"I don't see any sweets," Lillie said worriedly.

Teddy's face darkened momentarily, "It was closed," he said shortly.

They walked in silence for a few minutes and Lillie contemplated what she had overheard. She could trust Teddy, couldn't she? She could ask him about it – try and convince him not to.

"Teddy," she said slowly.

"Mm?"

"I heard you talking to that man," Lillie said saying it quickly before her courage could desert her.

Teddy stopped dead in his tracks and Lillie stopped too causing the people behind them to bump into them. He looked murderous. "What man?"

"Teddy, please you know what man."

"So what if I do. I can do what I want," he said aggressively.

"Teddy! Just think about what you're doing for a second," Lillie hissed not wanting to attract attention.

"I _have_ thought about it. What do you think I was doing all last year?"

"Okay, but then please just tell me why!" Lillie pleaded.

"I have my reasons," he told her in a 'stop talking now if you know what's best for you' kind of tone.

But Lillie didn't plan on stopping. "Why?" she asked.

"Lillie…" Teddy said dangerously.

"_Why?_" she asked again.

"Lillie…" he warned again and this time his tone was positively frightening.

Lillie swallowed. "**_Why_**?" she repeated forcefully.

Teddy's fist clenched and Lillie was sure that he was about to hit her. But then his whole body slumped slightly and he started crying. "My dad," he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Lillie asked, taken off guard by the sudden change in Teddy's mood.

"I mean being a werewolf was the only connection I had to my dad. I don't look like him; he doesn't have any other relatives, there was just werewolf. Some people considered it a disability but I thought of it as his last gift."

"Teddy. I…" she trailed off.

Teddy suddenly stopped crying and his eyes were once again black. "You can't tell anyone," he said forcefully and his voice cracked slightly. "Flourish and Blott's is over there." He pointed. Sure enough the book shop was there, Lillie was actually standing outside the apothecary, where she had found Teddy earlier. But when Lillie looked back Teddy had vanished into the crowd.

…

"Lillie, what's wrong?" Lyn asked at dinner. Lillie had only been picking at her food all night; Teddy was the only thing that she was able to think about.

"Nothing," Lillie lied quickly, forcing a smile. "Just tired that's all."

"That's what they all say," Lyn said.

"Lillie's having post-birthday blues," Tom said.

"Yeah, must be," Lillie agreed.

"Well in that case, maybe it's about time we gave you your present," Lyn suggested.

"I agree," said Phil and he reached underneath his chair and withdrew a large bundle and placed it on the table. When he put it down it became apparent that it was a cage covered in a blanket. "Ready?" he asked and Lillie nodded like a small eager child. Phil pulled off the blanket revealing a beautiful golden-brown owl.

"Oh it's beautiful!" said Lillie, so amazed that she forgot to worry about Teddy.

"What do you want to call him?" Lyn asked.

"Tom, obviously," said Tom.

"Arthur, actually," Lillie retorted.

"Seriously?" Phil asked.

"No, I was joking, although it's not a half-bad name."

"It's a very good name thank you very much," said Lyn.

"I think I'll call him Milo," Lillie said.

There was the shortest of the silences before Lyn said, "That's a nice name."

The rest of the meal was more upbeat but as soon as Lillie was alone in her room in the Leaky Cauldron she began to worry again.

It wasn't long before Tom came in and sat down on her bed next to her; Lillie didn't even try and pretend that she was alright. "What's wrong?" he asked bluntly.

"I can't tell you," Lillie told him.

"Yes, you can," he said, just as bluntly.

"No, I can't. If the problem had anything to do with me then I would tell you. But it's not me, it's one of my closest friends; he wants to do something… something dangerous and I'm scared about what might happen to him."

"Have you spoken to him about it?"

"Yes, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Well try again tomorrow and maybe you'll be able to convince him then."

"He's doing it tonight!" Lillie cried and tears came to her eyes. It had been over a year since she had last cried and from this Tom knew that it must be serious. He put his arm around Lillie's shoulders and she leaned her head on his chest allowing him to bring his other arm around her.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered soothingly as Lillie continued to cry silently into his chest, his warmth permeating through her body making her feel more slightly better although she was still exceedingly worried.

Lillie didn't know how long they stayed like that for, but it felt like a long time. Neither one said anything, they just sat there, the silence echoing all around them, searching through Lillie's entire body, resonating in her mind, spreading through her insides like a cold fire that made her feel both light as a feather and heavy as lead at the same time.

_She was walking along the third floor corridor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry wearing a knee-length sleeveless night-dress that she hadn't worn since she'd spent the night in a tower. She couldn't remember why she had been staying in a tower – had it been Ravenclaw Tower? She looked out the window and saw that the sun was high in the sky, which was strange because the corridors were completely deserted. Maybe everyone was in the Great Hall._

_She started moving along the corridors but when she reached the stairs she heard a loud snarling from below her. Lillie started to feel a little bit scared and started heading upstairs instead. When she was halfway up the stairs the whole thing jolted and started swinging to the right. Lillie held onto the bannister as tightly as she could until the moving stopped and resumed her progress up to the next floor._

_The snarling was getting louder and closer._

_She looked down and saw a flash of something chestnut brown disappear around a corner. She peered around to try and get another glimpse of whatever it had been and a second later it came back into view. It was a wolf; except it wasn't. Lillie hadn't decided what it was when the thing looked up and saw her. It howled and Lillie decided that it was a wolf and started running up the next set of stairs and she knew the wolf would be as well._

_Lillie didn't know how long she had been running for: up, down and across. But she was too exhausted to keep running and anyway she seemed to have lost the wolf. Just as she said this there was a loud growl from her right._

_Standing on the next set of stairs was the wolf; it was only a couple of metres away and Lillie wasn't sure if she was safe where she was. Could the wolf jump that far?_

_The wolf decided that it could jump that far and suddenly it was flying through the air towards her. Lillie looked into its eyes which were a very familiar golden colour._

_As it turned out the wolf couldn't jump that far. Its outstretched paw scratched Lillie's face but that was all. The creature started fall down and down between staircases after staircases._

_"Teddy!" Lillie called, jumping after it._

Lillie's tears had long dried up when she next moved; she wasn't sure if she had drifted asleep of if her mind had just been completely blank. But when the clock started chiming faintly in the distance she sat up. It seemed that Tom had fallen asleep and Lillie's sudden movement seemed to wake him up.

There was a clock on the wall and her gaze flickered towards it; luckily it was only eleven – not that she would be able to do anything when midnight finally did arrive.

"Something wrong, honey?" Tom asked sleepily.

Honey? Lillie frowned slightly before saying, "No, it's nothing. Go back to sleep." Tom obliged quickly and Lillie carefully extricated herself from his arms and started pacing, but this didn't make her feel better at all and so she sat down on the chair by the window.

Five past…

Ten past…

Quarter past…

Twenty past…

Twenty-five past…

Half past…

Twenty-five to…

Twenty to…

Lillie had made her decision. She was going to stop Teddy no matter what it took; she would curse him and the other person if she had to (which she feared she might). She stood up and silently picked her wand up from her bedside table and grabbed the thickest cloak from her suitcase. Her breath caught: this was Teddy's cloak. He had given it to her in January when they were in Hogsmeade together and she had started to feel cold.

His hair had been a beautiful dark brown on that day and his eyes had been palest blue. They had snuck out of the castle in the middle of the night during the Christmas holidays and they had gone to Hogsmeade together to watch a firework display. When the fireworks were over they had gone to the Three Broomsticks and had a large butterbeer. Then as they were walking back, Lillie had started shivering and Teddy had whipped off his cloak without hesitation and thrown it over Lillie's shoulders. She had refused and in the end they had both huddled in its warm depths.

The cloak still smelled like him. She hugged it to her chest and gave Tom one last look: he looked so beautiful when he was asleep. Wait, since when had Lillie thought of Tom as _beautiful_. He was good-looking that was for sure, but beautiful seemed a little excessive. But as she looked at him her doubts seemed to fade.

"I promise I'll come back," she whispered to him.

She left the room in silence, extinguishing the candles as she went, plunging herself into darkness. The floorboards creaked quietly beneath her feet as she felt her way along the upstairs corridor.

She reached the stairs earlier than she had ended and nearly fell all the way down them. She breathed out slowly and creeped down the stairs. The room was deserted; all the chairs were up on the tables and there was single stuttering candle left lit.

Lillie walked over to the concealed entrance to Diagon Alley and a second later she was out on the street with the cool night air flooding into her lungs, washing away any drowsiness that she may have been feeling. There was a strong wind blowing and Lillie pulled her cloak tightly around her to stop it from flapping and attracting any attention.

The wind was blowing up the street as though it wanted to help Lillie (as well as numerous pieces of paper, plastic and Merlin knew what else) get where she was going and it wasn't long before she had reached the apothecary, which in the dark looked very creepy. In the daylight, beetle eyes had never seemed particularly scary but in the dark they glistened like dark jewels and seemed to move. The hanging strips of dried plant, or animal flesh seemed to form twisting shapes of demented creatures.

She shuddered and hurried past the shop to the corner that led onto Uripedia Lane. The lane seemed to be even narrower and dingier than it had before. Why did darkness have to make everything so much scarier? She dearly wished that Tom was awake by her side rather than in asleep in her room.

No, Lillie had to be brave. She had to pull herself together and do what she believed was right by her friend. But would Teddy want her to do this? She suddenly started to doubt her motives; was she doing the right thing? Maybe Teddy really did want to be a werewolf, in which case he would hate Lillie for doing this. She shook her head; if that was the price she would have to pay then she would do it.

She braced herself and headed down Uripedia Lane being as quiet as she could whilst trying to stay as small as possible, although the darkness was enough to keep her hidden anyway as long as she always stuck to the left hand side. The full-moon bathed the other side in a faint pearly glow.

After a while, the lane seemed to start curving to the right and Lillie saw the clock shop illuminated in the light of the moon. It was five minutes to midnight. "I have to get there before the clock strikes twelve," she reminded herself and increased her speed.

Four minutes later the corner where Teddy and the Scottish man had arranged to meet was in view but there was only one person there and that was the one that Lillie hoped wouldn't be there: Teddy.

Lillie jumped slightly as the bells in the clock tower started to ring, much closer now than they had been in the Leaky Cauldron. Right on cue a horrific creature appeared in the road and Lillie pressed into a doorway; the creature looked at Teddy and snarled good-naturedly – if that was possible. It sniffed the air and Lillie froze where she was. Would the wolf be able to smell her?

A second later the wolf seemed to decide that nothing was wrong and Lillie thanked her stars that she was wearing Teddy's cloak.

The wolf approached Teddy who also moved towards it. Lillie raised her wand ready to strike. But then Teddy spoke, "I've changed my mind," he said. "I don't want this anymore. I'll give you the money anyway, but I won't need your bite."

Lillie breathed a silent sigh of relief as Teddy drew a bag that jangled merrily and he threw it on the floor a few feet in front of him. When it landed there was silence. The bells had stopped ringing.

For the second time that night Lillie felt like silence was overtaking her and she shuddered. But then there were soft sounds as the creature came forward to examine the bag of money.

As it came forward it came into the light and Lillie supressed a cry of terror. She had never seen a real werewolf before and it was far more grotesque than she would have imagined. The face was as though someone had pressed a human face between two plates and squished them together at a 45 degree angle to form a pointy snout-like thing and then covered it with a light sprinkling of fur. The thing's back was slightly hunched and it couldn't quite stand up straight. Its spine and its ribs were easily visible through the skin and thin matted brown fur. But the most horrifying things about this creature were the eyes and the teeth. The teeth were a horrible yellow – almost brown – and the eye sockets were far too large for the eyes (which were oddly human) giving the elongated face-snout a skeletal look which was highlighted by the pale glow of the moonlight.

It crouched down onto all fours which made the unnatural beast seem slightly more natural and sniffed the bag. The creature made a noise and Lillie had the horrible impression that it was laughing.

"I'll just go then," Teddy said nervously and started to head back up the street towards Diagon Alley. He had gone about two metres when the werewolf moved unimaginably quickly and cut Teddy off. "What do you want?" Teddy asked and Lillie could see the colour of his hair darkening dangerously.

The werewolf gave a short low growl as an answer.

"Am I supposed to understand what that means?" Teddy said.

The creature snapped its powerful jaws and licked its lips.

Lillie understood what this meant without Teddy saying, "Blood."

Without warning the wolf lunged and there was a loud cry of pain from Teddy. The wolf pulled back its head and lunged again and Teddy's cry turned into a strangled gargle.

"Stop!" Lillie screamed. But the wolf didn't hear her, or if it did it didn't care; it kept biting Teddy, again and again. "_Incarcerous!_" Lillie cried and ropes flew out of her wand and knocked the werewolf off of Teddy and trapping it at the same time. The ropes weren't very strong and Lillie knew she would have to do something else if she wanted to stop the wolf from escaping and attacking her too. She looked around and saw a gargoyle perched precariously on the edge of a building and pointed her wand in its direction.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The gargoyle slowly rose into the air and Lillie moved it so that it was exactly over the wolf's thrashing head. She let the large stone creature drop and smash onto the living creature below which stopped trying to free itself.

All this took about ten seconds.

Lillie dropped down next to Teddy's side but didn't know what to do. "Teddy…" she said her lip trembling and tears coming to her eyes.

Teddy's eyes slowly moved to meet Lillie's and he seemed to be trying to speak, to say something but the large chunk missing from his neck stopped him.

"It gonna be okay, Teddy. I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you," she said stroking his head and choking on her own tears. "Just stay with me, Teddy. Please stay with me."

Teddy seemed to be trying to say something again and this time a sound came through the rasping and gurgling. Teddy said, "Bye." Lillie wailed, a noise of pure grief, but that was the last time she would ever hear Teddy Lupin speak.

**Author's Note:**

**Blimey that was a long chapter! And a really difficult one to write as well. I can tell you that was not my original plan for this chapter. My original plan was for this chapter to be a simple description of Lillie's life in her new home, her reactions to it and so on but that was boring and so I decided to only write a short section on that.**

**I think this may well end up being the longest chapter of this story (it's more than 7000 words long) and for that I hope that a lot of people will review. I know I can count on Zheeba89 but it would be really nice to hear what other people think too.**

**I can't say the next chapter will be up very soon because I want it to be a good one because it's going to be the last one (I think) so it's got to be good, doesn't it? I have a plan and an idea and I know the vague outline of what's going to happen, but I'm not entirely sure how.**

**If anyone wants me to clear anything up in the last chapter – tie up any loose ends, mention something just tell me in your review and I will do my best to include it.**

**Lastly thanks to AiyalaHollyTree for helping me rediscover my love for HP which I am very embarrassed had waned in recent times, but all is well as I have now rekindled my burning passion.**


	32. Final Chapter: A Brewing Storm

Silver Lining

Final Chapter: A Brewing Storm

The blood pool grew around Lillie a large puddle of melted rubies burning at her insides. The night air grew colder around her as Lillie fought to keep the tears that were choking her at bay. One small tear fell from her eye. At exactly the same time a small raindrop landed about a metre to the left of her soaking up the thin layer of dirt around it. Another tear – slightly thicker – fell from her other eye; another raindrop slightly heavier fell on her right. Lillie gave a sob and she heard thunder rolling right above her, Teddy's body and his blood.

_"When a person who has studied the magics of earth and nature feels great emotion, it is often reflected in nature," _the echo of Madam Carlotta's voice whispered through her mind.

'I'm brewing a storm,' Lillie realised. She didn't care. She couldn't care. The tears started flowing in earnest now and thick, cold raindrops pounded down around them; but never on them. Her sobs turned into thunder, her cries into lightning as the mirror of her tears washed through the streets. "Help," she croaked, and she could swear that the next thunderclap repeated her words. "_HELP!_" she screamed and the storm seemed to broadcast her cry to everyone in Diagon Alley and beyond.

The invisible barrier between the hunched girl and the dead boy vanished and the two children were soon drenched. The blood was washed away but this just made Lillie more horrified.

Lillie couldn't have described Teddy's wounds if she had wanted to. If he hadn't been Lillie's best friend she doubted she would have recognised his face as more than a mask of minced meat.

"Teddy?" she whispered tenderly and the storm subsided a little, although rain still fell and icy winds still whistled through the street. "Come back. Wake up. Please, Teddy; I need you. I love you." She picked up his head and hugged it to her chest as if by being so close to Lillie's beating heart his own would start to beat again.

But it didn't.

And it wouldn't.

Ever.

Lillie wailed and the ferocity of the storm rose and fell with her voice. She subsided into quiet sobs and silent tears and the rain reduced to a light but constant drizzle and the thunder moved further away, while the lightning grew pale and faint.

A noise that wasn't her own sobbing or the storm's penetrated into Lillie's numbed skull: a faint groaning growl. Lillie looked up and saw that the werewolf was back on its feet. The creature's hideous face had become even more twisted and loathsome and Lillie could see a piece of stone spike sticking out of the thing's left shoulder-blade and now that Lillie could see its eyes she knew that there was no human element left in this creature whatsoever.

It started to stagger towards her and Teddy; its eyes were fixed on the latter. It continued moving towards them gathering pace. "Not again!" Lillie cried. "Get _away_!" On the last word the storm grew again until the drops almost blocked everything from view but Lillie could still see the glowing eyes of the wolf coming steadily closer.

"No," she said quietly and the storm hissed at the creature, which did not stop moving. "Stop," she said and lightning crackled down near them but the werewolf still kept coming. "_STOP_."

The force with which Lillie said these words caused a bolt of lightning to strike the wolf square in its hunched back. It screamed but kept coming nevertheless; it was almost on top of them. "Go back to where you belong," and threw her hands in the direction of the wolf.

This time the lightning came straight for her but she didn't even flinch; it reached her head and then travelled through her body and out of her hands and hit the wolf square in the face before spraying everywhere.

The world around Lillie seemed to explode and the only thing Lillie could do before darkness engulfed her was too grab a tight hold of Teddy's body.

…

When Lillie once again became aware of her surroundings, the storm had blown itself and Lillie's tears had dried up. She could hear voices murmuring around her. She breathed in lightly and opened her eyes; the first thing she saw was Teddy's mangled face and she had to close her eyes again for a second.

When she found the willpower to open them once more the sight of Teddy's tortured face still greeted her. It was even worse now that it was illuminated in the spectrum of the early morning light.

She slowly lowered his head back to the ground and backed away slightly. The murmuring around her had stopped quite suddenly and the silence that filled the air was paper-thin but hard as steel at the same time.

"Somebody help her," a high voice quivered, piercing the silence like an arrow.

Lillie looked around and saw that a large crowd had gathered around her; most people seemed to recoil from her gaze and the ones who didn't looked confused and slightly sickened. Lillie opened her mouth but no sound came out and she closed it again.

Her top lip started quivering slightly but she managed to keep it under control. Slowly, very slowly someone stepped forward. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" they asked tentatively.

"I'm-m f-f-fine," Lillie stuttered.

"Do you know…" he trailed off, pointing at the corpse, which was now a couple of metres away from Lillie.

She couldn't speak about Teddy, or maybe she just didn't want to, so she simply nodded instead. The guy came forward a little bit more before looking around at the others. "What are you doing? Don't just stand there, get a healer, or do something at any rate. Do you think this poor girl wants you staring at her?"

This broke the spell that had been covering the onlookers and several went back into their houses others took their children away, some headed towards the blackened remains of the werewolf and the three or four that were left seemed to crowd around Lillie.

"What happened?" another man asked, but Lillie shook her head.

"Shush, Earnest," whispered another woman. "She obviously won't want to talk about it." Lillie looked at her and tried to produce a grateful smile, although she doubted that it had looked anything like one.

There was a commotion from further up the street and a second later a man with messy black hair, green, almond-shaped eyes, glasses and an oddly shaped scar on his forehead came into view.

"Get out of the way!" Harry shouted and the group of people did so at once.

Harry stopped and his eyes flicked between Teddy's body and Lillie huddled on the floor, covered in burns and ripped clothes.

"No," he said quietly. He walked past Lillie and crouched by Teddy in the same place that Lillie had.

…

It had taken fifteen minutes for the two healers to arrive and when they did Harry was still crouching next to Teddy's motionless corpse with Lillie huddled a few feet away.

At first the healers moved towards Harry and Teddy but he waved them away and motioned them in the direction of Lillie.

Reluctantly the healers came over. "Lillie?" asked a male voice and Lillie looked up into the face of Toby Rasbash. "Are you ok?" he asked as they approached her.

"I'm fine," Lillie said quietly.

"What was that dear?" asked the other healer, a plump lady with turquoise hair.

"I'm fine," Lillie repeated more loudly.

"Okay. We're still gonna have to check you over though," Toby said.

Lillie stood up for the first time in a long time, feeling very stiff and sore having spent so long on the cold hard stone. She remained silent and unmoving as the two healers examined her: hands, eyes, head, movement and the one time she did speak was when they asked her if she could remember her name, who she was here with and why she had come to this place.

"Lillie Whitehead. I'm here with the Gwendolyn, Phillip and Thomas Hart: my adoptive family and the reason I came here last night was to stop Teddy…" she trailed off, refusing to let her emotions get the better of her again.

"It's alright dear," the woman comforted her. "Do your family know you're here?"

"No. They're in rooms 24 and 26 at the Leaky Cauldron," realising suddenly that they must be looking for her. "Can I go back to them?"

The woman hesitated for a split-second before nodding. "Toby, go with her," she ordered.

Toby and Lillie walked in silence all the way to the Leaky Cauldron and when they reached the wall that split the pub from the street, Lillie left him without a word.

As soon as she entered the dingy pub there was a cry of relief and Lyn had run across the room to wrap Lillie in a tight hug. "Where have you been?" she asked. "We've been worried sick."

"I'd rather not talk about it just yet," Lillie said and she saw Lyn exchange a significant look with Phil. "Don't worry," Lillie reassured them, "nothing happened to me, I promise."

Even so, Lyn didn't release her for a further fifteen seconds. Lillie shrugged off the cloak which was damp, and covered in blood and dirt. As soon as she had taken it off, she felt a lot cleaner and lighter and she was able to think straight again – not that she wanted to think about what had happened.

"Where's Tom?" she asked casually.

"He's still asleep," said Phil. "In your bed," he added and Lillie knew he was questioning her.

"Oh, he came to comfort me last night and he fell asleep before I left," she explained.

"Well, we need to get you to King's Cross before 11," Phil reminded everyone, reminding Lillie that life still went on without Teddy. "Lyn, honey, do you want to go wake Tom up?" When he had said 'honey' Lillie remembered Tom in his sleepy state the night before; he must have been dreaming about someone else.

"Of course," Lyn disappeared up the stairs.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Phil pushed her.

"I already told you, nothing happened to me. I'm _fine_," she insisted.

"Physically, maybe but something happened Lillie and I'm supposed to be your father; you can tell me," Phil pleaded with her.

"Teddy's dead," Lillie said shortly.

"Oh, Lillie, I'm so sorry," he said hugging her. Lillie felt comforted and a little warmth returned to her insides and she knew that only a father would be able to make her feel like this. She was able to find some small comfort in that thought. "Are you gonna be ok?" he asked gently.

"I'll be fine," Lillie told him. "I just want to move on as quickly as possible."

"Okay, if you're sure that's what you want."

…

A few hours later Lillie was standing on platform 9¾ with her suitcase, surrounded by her family, the Hogwarts crowd and the moist grey mist from the blue steam train. The crowd wasn't abnormally quiet as Lillie had expected although the usual buzz of excitement was severely dampened. Instead she could hear hushed (and somewhat excited) whisperings across the platform; Lillie had a very good idea why.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted a discarded copy of that day's _Daily Prophet_ on a bench with a photo of Teddy and a no-doubt witty caption which Lillie didn't care to read.

"Are you sure you're gonna be alright?" Lyn asked. Her tone wasn't specially gentle or soft and she hadn't tilted her head to one side in the infuriating manner that people always did when something bad had happened. In fact she simply sounded like a mother about to send her child away for a few months – which was exactly what she was doing – and for that Lillie was grateful.

"Yes, I'm sure," Lillie promised her.

"Have you got everything?"

"Probably not, but if I have forgotten something, I won't remember it, will I?" Lillie said making Lyn roll her eyes.

"Then, you'd better get on the train; we don't you to miss your O.W.L. year, do we?"

"They're not doing O.W.L.s anymore; they've replaced them, remember?" said Tom.

Lillie nodded before hugging Lyn, Tom and Phil; the latter took a second or two longer than the others and when he withdrew he kept his hands on Lillie's shoulders. He looked Lillie right in the eye and said quietly, "Promise me you'll be careful Lillie."

"I promise."

He smiled slightly. "I love you."

"I love you too… dad," Lillie said quietly. She didn't know why she said it. It just sort of came out but it felt right and so she didn't take it back.

She quickly turned and climbed onto the train. When she turned around to see her family again Phil's face – no, her father's face – looked surprised, but in a good way and this cheered Lillie up slightly.

She had to go to the front of the train to sit in the prefect's carriage and here she met the other new prefects. For Slytherin it was Leslie Calloway and a thin tall boy called Louis Austin. The Hufflepuffs were Ismail Anoka and Abigail Bones. The Gryffindors were Michael Bilding and a tall blonde girl called Cherry. The other Ravenclaw prefect was Dan. Lillie was glad that it wasn't Chris because she knew that he was the only person who would make her tell him how she felt and she really didn't need that just then.

When they were released to go and patrol the train Lillie made sure she was out of the compartment quickly and started searching for a compartment.

Lillie didn't have to walk far before coming to a compartment that she wanted to sit in. Vicky, Dominique, Alexandra (Charlie's daughter), Molly and Lucy (Percy's daughters) were all sitting together and in the compartment opposite were several other Weasleys: George (Fred's son), Fred (George's son), Wendy (Fred's daughter), Roxanne (George's daughter) and Louis. Lillie decided to sit with the older girls. When she walked into the compartment, Alexandra took her cat off the seat leaving a space for Lillie to sit.

"Hey Lillie," Dominique said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'd rather not talk about it to be honest," Lillie told them.

"Fair enough," Dominique said.

"It could have been so much worse though," Vicky said.

"Could it?" Lillie asked angrily.

"Yes," Vicky said indignantly. "At least he's not dead!"

"What are you talking about? Of course he's dead; I was there!"

"What am _I_ talking about? What are _you_ talking about?"

"Lillie," Molly said calmly. "Teddy's not dead; he's in St Mungo's."

"What?"

"He was attacked by a werewolf, so his heart stopped beating."

"Yes," Lillie said, completely confused.

"Lillie what do you know about werewolves?" Molly asked.

"Not much."

"Well, the only way they can kill someone is by either biting into the victim's heart or completely cutting off the brain. If this doesn't happen then the victim will die but only temporarily and then they would eventually come back as a werewolf," Molly explained very slowly.

"You mean he's alive?" Lillie questioned her.

"Yes," Vicky answered, exasperatedly.

Lillie released a strange noise: a gasp, a sigh of relief, a choke and a cry of joy all rolled into one.

"That's what I said when I was told," Vicky joked and Lillie smiled at her, feeling like she was flying.

"Excuse me," she said and she left the compartment hurriedly heading back to her luggage in the prefect's carriage.

She found two pieces of parchment, an inkpot and a quill. She addressed the first letter to Phil and Lyn Hart and the second to Tom Hart, because by the time the letters arrived Tom would be at WADA.

In the letters she explained everything that she had just discovered and apologised for having assumed so much without actually knowing anything for sure. The letters were short but they didn't need to be long.

She crouched down and opened Milo's cage and the beautiful owl hopped out at once. Lillie tied one letter to each of its yellow legs and then opened the window and the owl immediately unfurled its golden-brown feathers and leaped through it.

Lillie stood up and started to return to her compartment, but she stopped when she passed a compartment containing Chris, Parvati and Dan whose arm was around Etta. Lillie remembered her promise to herself that she wouldn't take Chris for granted anymore and she slid open the compartment door.

"Room for a small one?" she asked.

"Of course," Chris answered and Lillie sat down beside him and enjoyed the ride to Hogwarts.

Every now and then Dan and Lillie would patrol the train as they had been instructed, which was surprisingly enjoyable as Lillie saw lots of people she wouldn't normally have seen on the train.

As the light outside started to go they got changed; Dan and Lillie had to go back to the prefect's compartment to get their robes.

…

"First years come to me!" Lillie called as everyone got up from their seats after the feast. Her voice didn't seem to carry very far and she tried again and this time a few scared looking first years made their way towards her.

"Here let me have a go," the deep voice of Dan said from behind her. Lillie looked up at him; when had he become so tall?

"Be my guest."

"First year Ravenclaw come here!" he yelled and they were soon surrounded by about twenty kids.

"Fair play," Lillie admitted.

"If you would kindly follow Madam Whitehead; she will lead us to the common room. And any questions can also be addressed to her," he ordered the group making Lillie elbow him in the side.

…

When Lillie finally reached her dorm the others were already there. Gill immediately came up to her. "Aren't you excited?"

"Why should I be excited?" Lillie asked.

"It's fifth year," she replied as thought that explained everything.

Lillie shook her head, "I don't follow."

"Don't you remember our no-boyfriend-until-fifth-year pact?"

"Oh yeah," Lillie remembered.

"Well we're there now and so I'm thinking of asking Alex Johnstone out tomorrow," Gill told her.

Lillie knew that she was expecting a reaction and so she smiled and joked, "You don't wait around do you?"

No she really didn't! At breakfast the next day, Lillie spotted the pair together and it looked like Gill had received a good reply.

…

Gill wasn't the only one to receive good news that morning. When the post owls arrived that morning Chris, who was beside Lillie, had had his breakfast interrupted when a large owl had landed in his porridge, with a rolled up copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in its claws.

Chris untied the paper and unfurled it examining the front cover. "No way," he said, attracting the attention of the people around him. "Lillie you have to see this."

"What is it?" Lillie asked leaning over to examine the paper for herself.

_Dulcia Selwyn Finally Jailed_

Lillie's jaw literally dropped. She thought that only happened in books. "Well they took their time… but I suppose better late than never," she said to Chris, before bursting into laughter.

A second later Milo landed, slightly more gracefully beside the other owl. Clutched in its beak was a letter written in her father's hand.

_Dear Lillie,_

_I don't know if you've heard yet, but your aunt Dulcia has finally been imprisoned. I wanted you to hear it from me instead of the rumours of Hogwarts. I have to write an article on this now but I felt you needed to know more than the wizards and witches of the USA. I'm so glad that you are now completely safe from her and happy in the knowledge that she will never be able to hurt you again. She has been jailed for life without bail which is what was keeping her out until now, and she's been kept in a high security cell so she won't be escaping any time soon._

_Love,  
>Dad<em>

…

One morning, three days later Lillie was sitting alone at the breakfast table; it was very early so there were very few people at breakfast, but Lillie hadn't been able to go back to sleep when she had woken up.

"Good morning," a voice right behind her said as someone put their hands on her shoulders. Lillie jumped sending her pumpkin juice; she knew that voice, but she hadn't expected. She twisted to look at her assailant.

Without a word she jumped up and threw her arms around Teddy's shoulders and she felt his arms wrap around her a second later. She heard him chuckle gently, and the warm noise vibrated through his chest and Lillie could feel it seep into her, but instead of laughter, tears came out, but these were not tears like before but tears of joy.

She pulled away from Teddy and examined him. His hair was its usual wavy golden-brown, but his eyes were a strange silver colour and his skin had gone white. As in completely white like paper and the teeth that were visible in his smile were equally white. He had grown some facial hair too since Lillie had last seen him: side-burns and a circle beard.

The look suited him; it highlighted his chiselled features and made him look much older and sophisticated beyond his years.

"Never do that to me again," Lillie told him.

He smiled and bowed slightly, "As you wish." He straightened up winking at her. Lillie hugged him again. "Steady on," Teddy breathed, "I only just got here you don't want to send me back with a broken back do you?"

Lillie hit him, "That is not appropriate, Teddy."

"Too early?"

"Yeah. Little bit," Lillie scolded.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but do I smell food?"

"You're in Hogwarts. What do you think?"

"Well I'm hungry," he dropped down into the space beside the one that Lillie had vacated.

They ate in silence for a while, or rather, Teddy devoured everything within reach while Lillie watched somewhere between disgusted and impressed.

When he had finally stopped Lillie said to him, "I'm really glad you're back."

"I'm glad to be back. My ward was unimaginably boring."

"Tell me about it; I've been in enough of them. But I can't imagine parents will be too happy to have a…" Lillie trailed off.

"A werewolf here, threatening their beloved child?" Teddy ended her question for her. Lillie nodded. "Probably not, but I don't care about them. I'll take the wolfsbane potion and go to the hollow every four weeks so there won't be a problem. Anyway McGonagall is fine with it and everyone is too scared of her to contradict her."

Lillie laughed, "True," she admitted. "I'm happy as long as they don't take you away from me again.

At that moment Professor Stokes appeared beside them. "Glad to see you're back Ted, how was the hospital?"

"Boring and clean," Teddy said nodding his head.

"Well even if they took all the blood from your body you still have your lessons; here's your timetable." He handed Teddy a square piece of parchment.

"Thank you, Professor," Teddy said, taking the parchment.

"Well then, I'll see you this afternoon," he said, "Lillie, I'll see you first two," he added in Lillie's direction. "Oh and may I congratulate you on your Outstanding Transfiguration O.W.L. he said offering his hand to Teddy.

"Thank you," he said shaking it. Professor Stokes left the pair alone.

"I forgot to ask you how your owls had gone," Lillie said.

"They went really well," Teddy said. "I got 11 Outstandings."

"Well done," Lillie congratulated him. "Really well done Teddy; that's absolutely amazing!"

He smiled at her. "Your turn this year," he reminded her.

"I know," Lillie moaned. "It's been three days and the teachers will not let us forget for a moment. Although we're actually doing H.O.R.S.E.s," Lillie told him.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that."

"But you've got your newts coming up. Which ones are you doing?"

"I can't actually remember," he said. "Hold on, I'll check," he examined his timetable. "Potions, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Charms, DADA, Arithmancy and Herbology," he concluded.

"Sounds like a good mix," Lillie told him.

"Thanks; what do you think you're going to do?"

"If all goes according to plan I won't be here next year."

"Why not?" Teddy asked, completely shocked.

"Do you remember my brother Tom who left at the end of fifth year?" Lillie asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well he went to WADA; that's the wizarding academy of dramatic arts. They offer an scholarship for people at the end of their fifth year, but there are only one or two given out each year so I doubt I'll get in," Lillie explained.

"Troll-crap," Teddy pronounced, making Lillie raise her eyebrows. "I've seen you act in four plays and I can tell you that you are the best that Hogwarts has to offer at the moment."

"Aw, gee, thanks Ted. You're such a charmer," Lillie said putting on a silly voice.

Teddy laughed. "What can I say? When I like a girl, I can be very charming."

Lillie smiled but then her brain computed what he had just said. "Wait… what?"

"You heard me." Teddy looked into Lillie's eyes and Lillie looked into his; their silver drawing her in. She could tell that he was smiling even though all she could see were his eyes. That was odd. When had Teddy's face come so close to hers? They were pretty much touching.

Before Lillie realised what had happened; they _were_ touching. Their lips had met and the smile hidden in Teddy's eyes grew to fill them. The last thing that Lillie saw before she drew her eyelids like blinds was an explosion of colour in Teddy's eyes.

Even though his skin looked deathly-pale and ice-cold it felt warm against Lillie and the kiss grew more passionate and a relationship quickly blossomed.

…

Lillie discovered over the next few days that Teddy's side was a good fit for her and that she was very happy there.

No matter how good it felt though there was one bad effect of their relationship: Victoire. Lillie knew that she had a thing for Teddy and so she felt really bad for starting things with Teddy but she had tried speaking to her and Vicky claimed that she was perfectly alright with it but even so she became distant.

Teddy thought that this would pass, but as days became weeks and weeks became months and Vicky was still distant; it started getting to him.

Lillie tried to keep him upbeat as best she could and most of the time he was perfectly happy but then they would see Victoire giving them a sad look and Teddy would be moody for the rest of the day.

One day over the Christmas holidays; Teddy, Vicky and Lillie had all stayed in, Teddy and Lillie were curled up together in the library because the windows in Ravenclaw tower had been left ajar and so it was freezing in there.

Luckily the warmth from Teddy's body was enough to keep Lillie warm even on the coldest days. Suddenly, it seemed that Teddy's heat supply had been turned off and his body became cold.

Freaked out, Lillie looked up at Teddy's face and saw him looking anxiously over Lillie's shoulder. Lillie began to look around, but Teddy's hand caught her, "What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he told her and Lillie knew from his tone not to ask anything more and she gathered that it was Vicky that had bothered Teddy.

For the rest of the day; Teddy's warmth was gone and after dinner; he told Lillie that he had to go to the hospital wing to get his potion. Lillie watched him out anxiously but didn't get up to follow. Was this the beginning of the end?

On her way back to her dorm, Lillie looked out a window and saw a bright full moon shining through the clouds and onto the Grounds and the Forbidden Forest.

"Oh no," Lillie said. She knew Teddy was at his most sensitive on full moon nights.

Instead of heading to her dorm Lillie altered her route so that she ended up standing beside a picture of an abandoned baby elephant.

Its depressed eyes looked at Lillie and a second it trumpeted and swung off the wall allowing Lillie into the secret passage that led to Orphan's Hollow.

Teddy always came here on these nights.

When Lillie emerged on the other side she was on a large rocky platform covered in snow; usually a river would flow and waterfall would crash but at the moment all was hard as steel.

She didn't have to wait long for Teddy to arrive and when he did he looked more than a little miffed.

"Teddy," Lillie said and his eyes snapped up to her.

"What are you doing here? You know it's dangerous when I change," he said harshly.

"I know… I won't be long," she promised. "Please tell me what's wrong, Teddy. I hate seeing you this upset and I want… I need to know why."

"You know why," he told her.

"Victoire." It wasn't a question; she didn't even display any doubt.

"She's always been my best friend, Lillie, ever since we were little. Back when you were a muggle and had a family of your own."

It had started snowing.

"Please, Teddy, don't bring them into this. That's not fair."

The flakes were becoming thicker, sticking to Lillie's hair and clothes.

"You're right I'm sorry. But my point still stands; she's always been my best friend and more. Sure we've had our arguments, but seeing the way that I hurt her every day… it kills me inside and I can't do it anymore."

Teddy's skin was the exact same colour as the snow which had formed a ghostly crown on his head matched with a pale robe on his back and shoulders.

"What does that mean? What can't you do, exactly?" She knew that there was no point in asking the questions; she already knew what the answers were, she just didn't want to believe it.

The snow had stopped.

"I'm sorry, Lillie."

Lillie let out a cry and her knees gave way beneath her.

"I don't want this, Lillie."

The soft cold snow greeted her like an old friend.

"Lillie you have to believe me."

He had come over to her.

"I loved you, Lillie but I can't do that to Vicky; I just can't."

He kneeled in the snow beside her.

"Do you hate me, Lillie?"

He put a hand on her shoulder.

"No."

She shrugged it off.

"I couldn't."

She took his hand.

"I love you."

He squeezed her hand.

"You go to her."

She looked him in the eye.

"You look after."

The moonlight and the snow bathed his handsome face in white light.

"You love her."

A tear fell from her eye.

"But leave me alone to recover without you.

A tear fell from his eye.

"Lillie, please don't."

His voice was hoarse.

"I'm sorry Teddy."

Another tear.

"But I can't be with you if I can't have you."

Teddy's breath caught in his throat.

"Go."

He withdrew his hand.

"I'm changing."

He stood up.

"It's dangerous.

Lillie stood up.

"Goodbye."

He collapsed.

"Goodbye."

Lillie returned to her dorm but not once did she look back.

…

A few weeks later Teddy and Vicky got together, but as he had promised Teddy never approached Lillie.

Time passed and the summer term was soon upon them and Lillie was taking her exams and performing her all-important play.

In the end Lillie got into WADA and even though she was devastated that she had to leave Hogwarts, she was relieved that she would never have to find Teddy and Victoire together wherever she went.

Her summer was a blur of anticipation as she waited for her H.O.R.S.E. results. She had received straight Outstandings, the same as Teddy. But her parents were proud of her and Lillie knew that her real parents would have been as well.

September arrived and Lillie's first year at WADA was about to begin. Tom had told her that the first year was when they broke you and rebuilt you and this couldn't have been truer.

But one positive was that it made her forget all about her previous miseries and focus on the present and the future.

Her four years at WADA came and went at an alarming rate; it seemed that the directors did not believe in free time. But even so Lillie managed to build a life there and even had more relationships but none of them as serious as the one she had had with Teddy.

Eventually, WADA was over and life for Lillie Whitehead began for real.

Her first role in a professional external play was a touring musical called The Witches of the South.

One day while the musical was touring its final leg in South Africa Lillie bumped into a familiar face at a bar: Dan Short.

Dan had grown even more since they had last met and he was now stood at about two metres tall and he was even more muscled than he had been back then.

The pair spent two hours talking and Lillie eventually wangled Dan a ticket to see the show on the last night.

After the show Lillie had gone back to Dan's and she spent about a week there.

Two years later, the now couple were on a beautiful and remote island somewhere in the Japanese Sea and Dan was on one knee proffering a sapphire and silver engagement ring.

In the autumn of that same year, Phil and Lillie were walking with linked arms on that same Japanese island. Phil was on the verge of tears and Lillie was wearing a long white dress. In the crowd were familiar faces, from all the different places that Lillie and Dan had gone.

Teddy and Victoire were in the third row surrounded by a plethora of other Weasleys. While in the front row Tom sat beside Arthur whose hand was entwined with Chris' and other close friends were seated beside them.

Slightly less than a year later, Lillie Short received a letter inviting her to be a bridesmaid at the marriage of Theodore and Victoire.

On the 6th December 2026 Lillie noticed an unusual lump beneath her stomach. Slowly it grew and by late February, she and Dan were finalising baby-names: Theodore Christopher Miles Short for a boy and Henrietta Tamara (Dan's sister) Leslie Short for a girl.

The baby's due date was the 14th March, but a few weeks earlier while Dan and Lillie were eating dinner at home one evening, Lillie felt a sharp stab of pain.

Half an hour later they were sure she was going into labour and she was being rushed to the nearest hospital, which happened to be muggle, but this had brought Lillie into the world so Dan was fine with it.

When the doctor arrived she told the soon-to-be parents that not one but three children were about to come into the world.

"I can see a head!" Dan cried.

"It's a girl," the nurse told them.

"Say hello to Henrietta Short," Dan said showing Lillie the baby and in her dazed state Lillie laughed and smiled at the baby.

Number two was soon out and this one was a boy. "Hello, little Theo," Dan greeted his son.

"Come on, Lillie, just one more," Dan encouraged, gripping his wife's sweaty hand.

"I can't, Dan."

"Yes you can, babe. You can do this. Look at me," she looked at him; her face was pale and plastered in sweat.

"Please, Dan. I can't do this one. I need a Caesarean," she pleaded.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." Dan addressed the doctor. "Can we have a Caesarean for the last one?"

"Yes, but there's no point; once you've had the first one, the damaged is done."

"Please, my wife wants the operation."

"And I'm telling you it will be pointless."

"It's another girl," the nurse told Dan.

"Did you hear that, love? It's another girl, Lillie. Lillie?" She wasn't responding.

"Sir, you need to step back," the doctor said.

"What's wrong with her?" he shouted. "Lillie!"

"Sir, please step out of the room," the doctor said more forcefully and this time three nurses took hold of Dan and managed to drag him out of the room.

"Let go of me!" he yelled. "Lillie!"

He hammered on the door, but they had locked it and so he slowly sank to the ground, breathing heavily.

He didn't know how long he waited there for, but eventually the door opened and one of the nurses stepped into the corridor.

"Where's Lillie? Where's my wife?" Dan demanded rising to his feet.

"She didn't make it. There was nothing we could do. The births exhausted her and we couldn't resuscitate her."

"Why didn't you cut out the last one? We told you to! It would have saved her."

"We don't know that."

"I do. I know it would have. At least tell me my children are alright."

"They are fine, two healthy girls and one equally healthy boy."

…

"What are their names?" Tamara asked her brother.

"Henrietta, Theo and… and… Lillie," Dan decided.

**Author's Note:**

**Well, that was unexpected, if you had told me 15 months ago that I would have a story of over 100, 000 words I would never believe you, if you had told me that this is how the story was going to end, I wouldn't have believed you.**

**Even when I started writing this chapter this was not what I had in mind.**

**My original plan for the end of the story was for Lillie to leave Hogwarts at the end of her fifth year and that was going to be the end, but I decided that wasn't final enough.**

**Then I was going to have Lillie use her wand to sacrifice herself to bring back Teddy but I decided that that was too dark and out of character so part way through the chapter I changed my mind and decided to save Teddy (not sure if the werewolf thing is how things actually happen but oh well, it's my story) and have Lillie go out with him and then probably end up marrying him.**

**Then I remembered that I promised people that Teddy and Victoire would be together as I'm trying to keep this largely cannon (is it canon or cannon? I'm never sure).**

**So Lillie got together with Dan; I considered Chris, but I have never thought of those two going together and Chris actually becomes gay and gets together with Lillie's brother Arthur, I wasn't sure if I made that obvious enough.**

**So this is how it ended, and I'm happy with it, or at least as happy with it as I could ever be.**

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed and favourite and followed and because this is the last chapter I would like a review from all of you telling me what you thought of the story as a whole or just the chapter if you want.**

**I have so much fun writing this; it's been a great outlet and even if I haven't updated as regularly as I should have; I hope you know that hardly a single day passed when I didn't think of the fic especially during the period when I didn't update for about two months.**

**I appreciate every single one of you for reading this and hopefully enjoying it. I won't name anyone in particular, but I don't think I need to, you know who you are.**

**I have got another idea for a fic brewing, but I don't know when that will come out seeing as I'm getting older and only getting busier and I also want to plan it a lot more than I did this one. But any suggestions or requests are welcome.**

**So from, Lillie, Teddy, Vicky, Chris, Dan and everyone else goodbye and thank you.**

**When the clock strikes twelve**


End file.
